Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado on Tuesday released the most sweeping and defiant declaration of her career: a "Freedom Manifesto" that reads like both a constitutional draft and a liberation proclamation.
It arrives at a moment of historic tension as President Donald Trump signals he is prepared to consider a ground intervention to force dictator Nicolás Maduro from power, even while remaining open to negotiations "if freedom is restored."
Machado, who has lived in hiding as her movement's candidate was believed to have beaten Maduro in last year's election, offers in this document the clearest picture yet of the Venezuela she intends to rebuild.
"These principles have united us in this long struggle and are the pillars of the new Venezuela," she wrote on X, along with the manifesto, addressing it to "the Venezuelans and to our President Edmundo González Urrutia."
The manifesto, written while she evades regime persecution, is structured around a series of bold thematic subheads — each a pillar of national transformation:
"PREAMBLE"
The manifesto opens with a thunderous declaration of moral revolt:
"It became the sacred duty of the courageous Venezuelans to rise when our voices were silenced, our dignity denied, and our liberty shackled by the chains of tyranny."
This is not political rhetoric — it is a judgment.
Machado roots her entire vision in the belief that freedom is inherent, not granted, and that no regime "has the ability to dictate to individuals what is theirs by right."
She calls on Venezuelans to reject fear, reclaim dignity, and rebuild a republic where government exists solely to "safeguard the natural rights of all Venezuelans."
It is a manifesto drafted not for a party, but for a nation preparing for rebirth, she says.
"TOMORROW BELONGS TO THE BOLD"
Here Machado issues a proclamation of imminent change:
"We stand at the edge of a new era — one where our natural rights will prevail. This regime's long and violent abuse of power is ending."
She imagines a Venezuela rising "from the ashes … like a phoenix reborn — fierce, radiant, and unstoppable."
It is both poetic and prophetic — an unmistakable assertion that Maduro's dictatorship is already dying.
In Machado's telling, the new Venezuela is not merely freer: It is a restored global power, a leader in energy, technology, and democratic resurgence.
"DIGNITY: OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLE"
Machado defines dignity as the engine of national revival:
"The dignity of every human soul is sacred — the first principle from which all liberty flows."
She argues that socialism destroyed this dignity by extinguishing productivity, agency, and pride.
Her future Venezuela is one where dignity is restored through work, creativity, enterprise, and a government that "restricts its authority to its proper function." In her vision, dignity is not abstract — it is the operating system of a free society.
"EVERY VENEZUELAN IS BORN WITH LIBERTY"
This section is a direct assault on the ideological core of the regime:
"Freedom is not a privilege that is bestowed by a government … Every Venezuelan is born with inalienable rights … conferred upon them by our Creator, not by men."
The dictatorship, she implies, is not merely corrupt — it is illegitimate at its root.
"REGENERATE THE ECONOMY OF A FREE PEOPLE"
Machado's economic vision is sweeping:
"It is time to return power to the people, to the citizens, to the private sector," she writes.
Her plan includes reclaiming stolen property, unleashing private enterprise, restoring the oil and gas sectors to "the ingenuity of free men and women," and diversifying the economy into energy, agriculture, technology, AI, robotics, and defense.
It is not a reform program — it is a repudiation of socialism and a blueprint for a capitalist revival capable of "tripling" the nation's strength within a decade.
"FREEDOM OF SPEECH" / "RIGHT TO VOTE" / "RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE"
Machado restores the pillars the regime destroyed:
– "The right to speak the truth is the cornerstone of all freedom."
– "Our vote is our collective voice."
– "The streets belong to the people — not to the illegitimate power."
These rights, she insists, will no longer be privileges granted sparsely by a police state, but guarantees enforced and protected by a free republic.
"THE RIGHT TO SAFETY" & "CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY"
Her tone hardens here.
The cries of the murdered and disappeared "have echoed unanswered for too long," she writes, insisting that "the criminal regime must be held accountable."
Police and military forces will be reformed into defenders of the people — not instruments of terror.
"BRING THEM HOME NOW"
For the 9 million exiles scattered across the world, Machado issues her most emotional promise: "We will bring them home."
It is a vow of national reunion after the largest displacement crisis in the hemisphere's history.
Officials under President Donald Trump confirm that while the two leaders have not met in person, they have exchanged messages through intermediaries. Trump's openness to a military solution — and his insistence on free elections — places him closer than ever to Machado's goals.
Both now speak of a Venezuela restored: democratic, prosperous, and aligned again with the free world.
Machado ends her manifesto with a declaration not only of hope, but of destiny: Venezuela will return as "the unwavering promoter of liberty around the world."