President Donald Trump will host a meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, at the White House today.
The high-stakes talks address Venezuela’s future following US elite forces’ 3 January pre-dawn raid capturing Nicolas Maduro. An elite team transported Maduro to a New York City jail.
Many expected Machado to lead post-capture, but the White House sidelined her. Instead, authorities recognised Maduro’s former vice-president Delcy Rodriguez as interim leader despite Trump’s insistence that the US will “run” the country.
Rodriguez gains US recognition
Venezuela’s UK ambassador Felix Plasencia, a close Rodriguez ally, arrives in Washington today for Trump officials meetings. The visit paves way for reopening the Venezuelan embassy after years.
Trump announced a deal last week providing up to 50 million barrels of crude oil to the US. He issued an executive order safeguarding Venezuelan oil revenues in US-controlled accounts.
Rodriguez pivoted from initial condemnation, claiming 100 military and civilian deaths, to close Trump cooperation.
Authorities began releasing political prisoners, including US citizens, marking a “new political moment.” NGOs estimate around 1,000 remain detained.
Nobel Prize strains relations
Machado, 58-year-old former legislator, won 2024 primaries against Maduro but faced government ban. Her replacement Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia gained US recognition as legitimate winner after opposition evidence showed Maduro’s wide loss. Trump sent mixed signals, calling Machado “nice” but questioning her domestic respect to govern.
Machado offered to share her Nobel with Trump on Fox News, rebuffed by organisers as non-transferable. Trump called acceptance a “great honour.” Sources claim rejecting it for Trump would have made her president. Following their first call, Trump praised Rodriguez as “terrific” with whom the US works “very well.”
Opposition leader pushes back
Machado repeatedly praised Trump as “champion of freedom,” thanking him for toppling the “narco-terrorist regime.”
From an undisclosed location, she affirmed her coalition’s readiness to lead Venezuela through free elections. She noted Rodriguez remains US-sanctioned and lacks trust, insisting “absolutely yes” her group should govern next.
Source: The Guardian
Also read: Second attack wave on Venezuela canceled, $100B oil deal
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