Maria Corina Machado Says She Plans to Return to Venezuela 'As Soon as Possible' After Maduro's Arrest

"I'm planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible," Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "As I've always said, I make decisions based on where I can be most useful to our cause. That's why I stayed in hiding for more than 16 months, and that's why I decided to leave. At this moment, I believed I could be more effective by speaking out from where I am now. But I do plan to return home as soon as possible."

Machado had remained hidden inside Venezuela for more than a year before traveling to Norway last month. Shortly after the ceremony in Oslo, her international relations coordinator, Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli, said she departed the city. Since then, her current location has not been publicly disclosed.

In her first public appearance since Maduro's capture on Jan. 3, Machado said that day will go down in history as "the day justice defeated tyranny."

"It's a milestone, and it's not only huge for the Venezuelan people and our future, I think it's a huge step for humanity, for freedom, and human dignity," Machado said.

During the interview, Machado said the opposition would turn Venezuela into a security ally of the United States and an energy hub for the Americas, provide protection for foreign investment and repatriate millions of Venezuelans who had been forced to leave the country during the Maduro regime.

"We will leave behind all the destruction this socialist regime, criminal regime has brought to our people and turn Venezuela into the main ally of the United States in Latin America," she said.

Among other topics, she thanked the President Donald Trump and his administration for the Jan. 3 military operation that captured Maduro. Fox News' host Sean Hannity asked her whether she had "at any point offered to give (Trump) the Nobel Peace Prize" following reports that claimed Trump had soured on her for accepting the accolade, which he has long wanted for himself.

"It hasn't happened yet. I certainly love to be able to personally tell him that the Venezuelan people want to give it to him. We want to share it with him. What he has done is historic, a huge step towards a democratic transition," Machado said.