The breathtaking, cinematic evacuation of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is exactly the kind of bold action Americans should celebrate, not condemn. Fox News reported that the Trump administration warned of impending land operations in Venezuela as Machado was spirited out of the country in a perilous extraction, underscoring the seriousness of Washington’s commitment to opposing the Maduro dictatorship. This was not a sloppy, half-hearted gesture — it was decisive, coordinated, and carried out under conditions that any free nation would approve.
Accounts now make clear Machado’s escape was a high-risk, clandestine affair involving disguises, checkpoints, a fishing skiff and a private jet to Curaçao before onward travel to Oslo, where she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado herself acknowledged U.S. support while prudently withholding operational details to protect those involved, which is exactly the discretion responsible leaders use in matters of national security. This was the kind of real-world help that helps topple tyrants and preserves lives — not the hollow rhetoric too often peddled by weak-kneed critics.
The escape unfolded against a backdrop of a U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean and aggressive enforcement actions, including the seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker and close air patrols that reportedly shadowed the extraction route. Those moves demonstrate that the United States under firm leadership will not stand idly by while a brutal, narco-authoritarian regime enriches itself and endangers the hemisphere. For once we’re seeing strength applied as a tool of foreign policy — pressure where needed, and protection for democratic allies where possible.
Machado has bluntly described Venezuela as already “invaded” by Russian and Iranian operatives and by terror proxies that have converted her homeland into a criminal hub, and she’s not wrong. That blunt assessment should wake up every American who still believes in a foreign policy of naïve restraint; when adversaries openly carve out footholds in the Americas, the United States must respond to secure its own hemisphere. Supporting brave patriots who risk everything for liberty is not interference — it’s common-sense defense of freedom and stability.
This rescue is part of a larger pattern of the Trump administration and allied partners facilitating the safe exfiltration of opposition figures and their teams, including earlier operations that secured aides sheltering in foreign embassies. Senator and Secretary-level statements celebrated the “precise operations” that brought dissidents to safety, and that clarity of purpose is exactly what has been missing from hollow promises and endless talk on the left. The American people should be proud that our leaders are finally matching words with action when it matters.
Let the naysayers in the media and the hand-wringing elites scream about provocation; the real provocation is allowing tyrants to export corruption, drugs and terror right under our nose. Washington’s recent naval deployments and readiness to enforce sanctions and interdictions show a strategy aimed at choking off Maduro’s cash flow and protecting regional security. If the United States wants a safer hemisphere and a world that still values liberty, we should double down on decisive measures that rescue the brave and punish the criminal regimes that would destroy nations.
