Democracy in Venezuela will strengthen Trump
The United States’ intervention in Venezuela and the support from Maria Corina Machado raise questions about democracy or imperialism. Venezuela’s fate will define Donald Trump’s role as a global power broker and have geopolitical consequences.
Januray 15, 2026 | INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Composite image created using AI, based on official photographs of Trump and Machado.
Today, the American president meets the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year. The Peace Prize awarded to Machado was controversial, and it may have helped legitimize the United States’ actions against drug trafficking and the shadow fleet operating from Venezuela, as well as the operation in which the United States entered Venezuela and arrested the dictatorial president Nicolás Maduro for crimes on January 3 this year.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president on January 5, but on January 12 Donald Trump announced that he is the acting president of Venezuela. Trump has further stated that it will take time before a democratic election can be held in Venezuela. Questions are being raised as to whether the United States will restore democracy in Venezuela, or whether the intervention in Venezuela is an expression of imperialism. The near future may show what intentions the United States truly has.
Donald Trump presents himself as the president of peace; this is described, among other places, in the U.S. National Security Strategy published in November. Millions of Venezuelans, both in Venezuela and in exile, perceive Trump as a liberator. These days, people in Iran view the American president as a possible liberator, while people in Greenland see him as a threat.
Maria Corina Machado dedicated the Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump shortly after the announcement in October, and she has supported the American actions against Venezuela. Trump believes that he himself should have received the prize; read more here. There has been speculation about the relationship between the two after Donald Trump did not immediately involve Machado following the operation against Maduro.
In an interview with Fox News on January 6, Machado stated that she would give the Peace Prize to Donald Trump, but the Nobel Committee has since stated that the Peace Prize cannot be shared or transferred.
How Donald Trump handles the situation in Venezuela going forward will largely confirm or refute whether he is a democrat or an imperialist. This will be of great importance for perceptions of his intentions regarding Greenland and other countries on the American continent. A democratic development will force European leaders to change course, as their strained relationship with the United States is a result of a narrative that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.
Machado is neither decisive for Venezuela’s future nor for U.S. decision-making. If Maria Corina Machado were to be given a democratic role in Venezuela, it would validate the Nobel Committee’s decision. If, however, she were to be offered and accept an authoritarian role in Venezuela under Trump’s leadership, it would dishonor the Nobel Committee.
An imperialist development in Venezuela would indicate that the situation will remain unstable in the Western Hemisphere. This is a situation that Russia and China will exploit.
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