Venezuela’s main opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has vowed to return home quickly, praising US President Donald Trump for toppling her enemy, Nicolas Maduro and declaring her movement ready to win a free election.

Trump appears, however, to hope for now to work with interim President Delcy Rodriguez and other senior officials from Maduro’s government, disappointing the opposition and contributing to nervousness in Venezuela.

“I’m planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible,” said Machado, 58, who escaped from Venezuela in disguise in October to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated to Trump.

“We believe that this transition should move forward,” she told Fox News’ Hannity programme.

“In free and fair elections, we will win over 90% of the votes.”

Trump has said the US needs to help address Venezuela’s problems before an election, calling a 30-day timeline unrealistic.

“We have to fix the country first … There’s no way the people could even vote,” Trump told NBC.

Socialist party still in control

In the interview late on Monday, her first since Maduro was captured in Caracas by US commandos, Machado did not give her location or more details on returning to Venezuela, where loyalists of Maduro’s Socialist Party remain in power, and Machado is under investigation for inciting insurrection in the military.

To the dismay of the large diaspora – one in five Venezuelans left during an economic implosion — Trump has said Machado lacks support.

The opposition, some international observers and many US allies say Machado’s movement was cheated of victory in the 2024 election, from which Machado was banned, and an ally stood instead.

The daughter of a left-wing guerrilla fighter, Rodriguez is a diehard Maduro ally who has denounced his kidnapping while also calling for respectful relations and cooperation with Washington.

“Delcy Rodriguez, as you know, is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narco-trafficking,” Machado said, noting Rodriguez’s liaison role with allies Russia, China and Iran.

Praise and thanks for Trump

Machado, who has galvanised an often fractured and demoralised opposition in recent years, said she would personally give Trump the Nobel Prize.

“January 3rd will go down in history as the day justice defeated a tyranny,” she said of Saturday’s raid.

She thanked Trump for “his courageous vision, the historical actions he has taken against this narco-terrorist regime.”

With the world’s largest oil reserves and the US as its main ally, Venezuela would become the energy hub of the Americas, restore the rule of law, open markets and bring home exiles, Machado said.

Trump has, however, been told by the CIA that Rodriguez and other senior officials from Maduro’s government are the best bet to maintain stability, sources said.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has been on the streets patrolling with security forces.

“Always loyal, never traitors. Doubt is betrayal!” they chanted in one of several overnight social media posts by the Venezuelan government.

Authorities have ordered the arrest of anyone who collaborated with the seizure of Maduro.

The government has not given a number for those killed in the US operation, but the army posted a list of 23 names of its dead.

Lack of jurisdiction

Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek Saab called on Tuesday for the US judge overseeing Maduro’s case to recognise what he said was a lack of US jurisdiction and Maduro’s immunity from prosecution as a head of state.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, should be freed unconditionally immediately, Saab said to reporters.

US oil CEOs are expected to visit the White House as early as Thursday to discuss investments in Venezuela, according to three sources familiar with the planning.

Worried world

Rodriguez, Venezuela’s first female head of state, has wavered between angry defiance and potential cooperation with Trump.

He has threatened another strike if her government displeases him.

According to the Politico news site, US officials have told Rodriguez they want to see a crackdown on drug flows, the departure of Iranian, Cuban and other operatives hostile to Washington, and an end to oil sales to US adversaries.

They also expect her to eventually facilitate a free vote and stand down, Politico said, quoting a US official and another person familiar with internal Trump administration discussions.

Trump’s actions, the biggest US intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama, have brought condemnation from Russia, China and Venezuela’s allies.

Allies of the United States have urged adherence to international law.

“It sends a signal that the powerful can do whatever they like,” the UN human rights office said in the latest expression of international concern.

Trump has said the US is now in charge of Venezuela and will help revive its oil industry with the help of private companies.