Venezuelan Opposition Leader And Nobel Prize Winner Claims Military Escalation Is The Only Way To Remove Maduro

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner Maria Corina Machado said military escalation is the "only" way to remove authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro from power.

"The increase in pressure and the escalation that's taken place is the only way to force Maduro to understand that it's time to go," and "facilitate a peaceful and orderly transition," Machado told Bloomberg.

Machado has also said she has a plan for the first 100 hours following an eventual fall of the Maduro regime, and she continues to organize her movement even if several members are imprisoned or in exile.

"It's a decentralized structure, I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of people," she said. "People will come out when the correct moment arrives, and that's been built as we speak."

The comments come as the Trump administration has reportedly made the decision to strike military facilities inside Venezuela, with attacks potentially taking place at any time.

The strikes seek to "decapitate the hierarchy" of the Cartel de los Soles, which U.S. officials claim is ran by top members of the Maduro regime, the Miami Herald claimed. The outlet cited officials saying they believe cartel exports amount to 500 tons of cocaine every year.

Sources didn't tell the outlet whether Maduro is a target, but warned that his time is running out. "Maduro is about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to," one of them said.

"What's worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming."

The Wall Street Journal also reported on Friday that President Donald Trump has been presented with a list of potential strikes inside Venezuela.

The outlet detailed that the targets are considered nexus between the Nicolas Maduro regime and drug-trafficking organizations, including the Cartel de los Soles. They include military ports and airports, as well as naval facilities and airstrips.