By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuela opposition leader who has been in hiding for more than a year, has promised that, President Nicolas Maduro will eventually be ousted, Aljazeera reported.

Speaking to reporters in Oslo, Norway, on Friday, Machado added that she was still hopeful that a change in leadership in Venezuela would be peaceful.

“Maduro will leave power, whether it is negotiated or not negotiated. I am focused on an orderly and peaceful transition,” she said.

But her latest statement comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump maintains its buildup of military forces in the Caribbean.

“The Trump administration has repeatedly struck alleged drug smuggling boats in the region, in what experts say amounts to extrajudicial killings. The president has also, in recent days, repeatedly threatened to begin operations on Venezuelan territories, in what he has characterised as actions to stem illegal drug flows from the country. Maduro has accused the Trump administration of seeking to topple his government. Some critics have accused the US of aiming to open up Venezuela’s vast oil reserves to US and Western companies,” reads the Aljazeera report in part.