Machado urges immediate government change in Venezuela Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado says the moment has arrived for “popular sovereignty” in Venezuela, calling for opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia to assume leadership of the country. “The time has come for popular and national sovereignty to prevail in our nation,” Machado declares, adding: “We will restore order, release political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children home.”