Machado says Cuba and Nicaragua will follow after Venezuela’s fall

Monday 16 February 2026 - 12:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Machado says Cuba and Nicaragua will follow after Venezuela’s fall

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado told an international audience that the collapse of President Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela would trigger a broader liberation across the region, predicting that Cuba and Nicaragua would be next to break free from authoritarian rule. Machado spoke via video to global leaders gathered at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, asserting that once Venezuela’s “criminal” government is dismantled, the momentum would carry forward to other long-standing leftist governments in Latin America.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate framed her remarks within a wider call for democratic transformation, saying the Americas could see an unprecedented era free from communism and dictatorship. She credited recent shifts in Venezuela to combined domestic resistance and international support, including from the United States, and defended her continued activism from exile in the United States. Machado has urged global actors to move from declarations to concrete measures, advocating for financial sanctions against remaining supporters of Maduro’s regime and pressuring allied nations like Cuba and Nicaragua.

Asked about her own future role, Machado reiterated her intention to seek the Venezuelan presidency through elections, emphasizing democratic legitimacy as central to her vision for the country’s political future. She also stressed that dismantling foreign influence within Venezuelan institutions, particularly from Cuba, Russia and Iran, was essential to securing a genuine democratic transition.