Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose party won the 2024 election, told "Face the Nation" that a political transition away from the remnants of the Maduro regime is "unstoppable" and argued that any positive changes made by the interim government is due to pressure from the Trump administration but may not hold legal weight.

In an interview Friday with "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan, Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado said the U.S. military operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro "sent a clear message" to the members of his regime who still run the South American country, "and they're starting to realize that things have changed for good."

"So eventually, they might understand, and even very soon, that it is in their best interest to accept that transition is unstoppable," Machado continued. She told CBS that neither she nor her opposition movement are in contact with the Rodriguez government which she said was due to the regime's past and continued refusal to negotiate a transition.

Since the morning of Maduro's capture, Venezuela has been governed by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who previously served as Maduro's vice president and was later sworn in by the National Assembly as president. Rather than ousting the remnants of Maduro's regime including officials indicted and sanctioned by the U.S., the Trump administration  has sought to work with them, using hefty U.S. restrictions on Venezuelan oil exports as a source of leverage.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators on Wednesday the Trump administration is not planning to take any further military action in Venezuela. He said the "only military presence you will see in Venezuela is our Marine guards at an embassy," referring to the potential to reestablish an American diplomatic presence in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

While the Trump administration is working with the Rodriguez government, the U.S. has not diplomatically or legally recognized their legitimacy. On Saturday, American diplomat Laura Dogu arrived in Caracas to work as Charge d'Affaires of the Venezuelan Affairs Unit. She carries the title of Ambassador due to previous roles in Honduras and Nicaragua. The State Department said that in Caracas she will work with the opposition, civil society and the interim government. The U.S. has maintained roughly 70 locally employed staff there.

Asked if Rubio's comments to lawmakers removed needed leverage over the interim Venezuelan government, Machado said she doesn't believe that's the case.

"Actually, everything that Delcy Rodriguez is currently doing is because she's complying with instructions she's getting from the United States," Machado said. "So I think that the message has been delivered, and so far, we're seeing the results in the actions taken by the regime, and also in the mood and energy that is growing within the Venezuelan population."

Rodriguez's government has made some notable changes in recent weeks including signing a law that loosens state control over the Venezuelan oil industry — a move away from the socialist Chavismo foundations of the state. That shift toward privatization is

in line with President Trump's push for U.S. oil companies to reinvest in Venezuela after largely fleeing the country due to nationalization of their assets. 

Asked if she supports those oil industry changes, Machado said, "these so-called reforms introduce positive signs in terms of what we, the Venezuelan people, want in the future."

"We don't want socialism. We don't want the state owning every single facility or production center. We want private property," she said. "But that requires rule of law [and] long-term guarantees for foreign investment, for local investment."

Machado told CBS that while in exile she has been meeting with energy executives. She emphasized that many have told her that a move toward a stable, democratic system would help shore up faith and new investment in Venezuela. 

Machado argued that the changes promised by Rodriguez are based on a flawed legal premise since the U.S. government has not recognized the National Assembly as a legitimate power. Without free and fair elections, she argued, the existing government remains an "illegitimate power" and whatever comes from it has "no legality."

Rodriguez said Friday that lawmakers would take up a bill granting amnesty to hundreds of political prisoners, as Machado presses for the release of prisoners. Following through on that release may test how tolerant the interim authorities may be of dissent and human rights.

Maria Corina Machado indicated that while she shares the Trump administration's vision for an end game, she does not have an exact timeline from them in regard to when the interim government would agree to hold elections. She argues that securing that transition is key to shoring up confidence among refugees and political exiles who may want to return to Venezuela but fear persecution and instability.  

"So if we want those hundreds of thousands and millions of Venezuelan to go back, we need to have a secure and precise timeline through which this transition will advance," she said.

Rubio said Wednesday the Trump administration eventually wants Venezuela to have democratic elections, but a transition to democracy will "take some time." 

The WSJ reported that the Energy Secretary told the business community that elections could be a year and a half to two years out. He previously told "Face the Nation" that the U.S may need to stay directly involved in Venezuela for some time. "It's not weeks, it's more months. Could be a year or two could be more," Wright said.

Machado, who met with Rubio on Wednesday, said dismantling the Maduro regime will likely be a "very complex process," calling it a "criminal structure" with links to U.S. adversaries like Cuba, Iran and China.

Addressing her own political future, Machado told CBS: "I will be president when the time comes."

But she added that it "should be decided in elections by the Venezuelan people."

Machado was banned by Maduro from running against him in Venezuela's 2024 election, but she galvanized her party and threw her support behind former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia. The U.S. and much of the international community recognized González Urrutia as the election's legitimate winner, but Maduro remained in power amid widespread allegations that the results were rigged. 

She lived in hiding inside Venezuela for 16 months after that and frequently moved locations, fourteen times she said, to avoid persecution by Maduro's government. In December, she fled the country in a daring and secretive waterborne operation assisted by a U.S. security firm and local supporters. She flew to Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize.

The following month, Machado handed over her Nobel medallion to Mr. Trump, who had openly campaigned for the prize. She told CBS News she gave the prize to the U.S. president because she is "truly grateful for what he has done," referring to the operation to oust Maduro.

Aboard Air Force One Saturday night, Trump was asked by reporters whether Machado should be able to return to Venezuela. 

The President said she is a "very fine person" and generally referenced the potential of getting the opposition and the regime to work together. 

"But I think I have to say, at the same time, the current leadership is doing a very good job," Trump said of Delcy Rodriguez.

Asked whether she believes she would be imprisoned if she returned to her home country now, Machado told Brennan that "things are changing very fast in Venezuela."

"If they had captured me before I left, I probably would have been disappeared or worse," Machado said. "Right now, I don't think they would dare to kill me because of the United States' presence and pressure and actions."