Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado voices support for Israel

ISTANBUL

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, said that if elected, she will move her country’s embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"I believe and I can announce that our government will move our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem," Machado said in an interview with an Israeli channel.

"I promise one day, we'll have a close relationship between Venezuela and Israel. That will be part of our support to the State of Israel,” she added.

In 2009, Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez, severed diplomatic relations with Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador in protest against the 2008-2009 Gaza War.

In September, Machado became a vocal advocate for US President Donald Trump’s military expansion in the Caribbean, sharing his view that Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro represents a significant security risk to the region.

“This is about saving lives,” she had said in an interview with Fox News last month following the US bombardment of suspected drug boats in the Caribbean.

"Not only Venezuelan lives, but also lives of American people, because as you have said, and we have heard, Maduro is the head of a narco-terrorist structure of cooperation," she said.

ISTANBUL

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, said that if elected, she will move her country’s embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"I believe and I can announce that our government will move our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem," Machado said in an interview with an Israeli channel.

"I promise one day, we'll have a close relationship between Venezuela and Israel. That will be part of our support to the State of Israel,” she added.

In 2009, Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez, severed diplomatic relations with Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador in protest against the 2008-2009 Gaza War.

“This is about saving lives,” she had said in an interview with Fox News last month following the US bombardment of suspected drug boats in the Caribbean.

"Not only Venezuelan lives, but also lives of American people, because as you have said, and we have heard, Maduro is the head of a narco-terrorist structure of cooperation," she said.