Trump to host Venezuelan opposition leader sidelined by US

AFP | Washington

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US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet yesterday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose pro-democracy movement he has sidelined since toppling her country’s leader, and whose Nobel Peace Prize he openly envies.

Machado’s White House visit comes a day after Trump used glowing terms to describe his first known call with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, confirming his satisfaction with the allies of Nicolas Maduro remaining in power, for now at least.

Trump called Rodriguez a “terrific person” and hailed “terrific progress” made since US special forces seized Maduro and his wife in a deadly raid.

Rodriguez said the call was “productive and courteous,” and characterized by “mutual respect.”

“Many topics were discussed,” Trump said on social media, “including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security.”

Notably absent was any mention of a political transition, an issue that Washington has recently downplayed compared to economic concerns, especially access to Venezuelan oil.

Machado, who campaigned for years to end Maduro’s rule, will seek yesterday to bring the issue back into the foreground.

Nobel sharing?

Machado, 58, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her activism in pursuit of democracy in Venezuela, despite threats of imprisonment by Maduro’s government.

Venezuela’s opposition has argued and presented evidence that Maduro stole the 2024 election from Machado’s party, namely candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia -- claims supported by Washington.

Venezuela’s electoral authorities, seen as allied with Maduro, never released data from the vote.

Hundreds of people were arrested in post-election protests, and while Gonzalez Urrutia fled to Europe for asylum, Machado remained in the country in a hidden location, appearing only intermittently at rallies.

She appeared in Oslo, Norway last month to collect her Nobel prize after a daring escape by boat, and has not yet returned to her home country.

Trump has openly fumed about not being awarded the prize, calling it a “major embarrassment” for Norway.