The María Corina Machado Meeting at the White House has Concluded
Upon leaving the White House, María Corina Machado briefly told the press that the meeting went “very well,” but did not reveal whether she presented the Nobel medal to Trump, as had been speculated.
This is a story in progress. Opposition leader María Corina Machado greeted some Venezuelans gathered in front of the presidential residence before boarding a vehicle to go to Congress. The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado concluded this Thursday after more than two hours.
Trump and Machado shared a closed-door lunch, without press access, and afterwards the opposition leader traveled to the US Capitol, where she will meet with senators. Upon leaving the White House, Machado briefly told reporters that the meeting went “very well,” but did not reveal whether she presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, as had been speculated.
The opposition leader greeted some Venezuelans who were gathered in front of the presidential residence before getting into a vehicle to go to the Capitol. She is scheduled to hold a press conference on the steps of the Capitol after her meeting with Republican and Democratic senators. The meeting is the first between Trump and the opposition leader and comes less than two weeks after the U.S. arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise operation in Venezuela, in which his wife, Cilia Flores, was also captured. Both were later transferred to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
So far, the president and his administration have ruled out Machado and her opposition movement for the first stage of Venezuela’s transition, arguing that she lacks the necessary support within the country. Instead, they have backed Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed power as interim president with Trump’s backing. Trump maintains that Venezuela is under Washington’s tutelage.
Update
Machado arrived at the White House around noon, without Trump or any member of his government receiving her in front of the cameras, as is usually the case with other political leaders. About an hour later, Machado came out again to get into a vehicle and simply said a few words to a group of Venezuelans who had gathered to express their support: “Know that we are counting on President Donald Trump for the freedom of Venezuela,” she said.
She then went to the Capitol, where a group of senators were waiting for her to meet with Trump. Upon leaving the Capitol, Machado briefly recounted her meeting with the president. “I was very impressed by how clear his vision is. How well he understands the situation in Venezuela, how much he cares about the suffering of the Venezuelan people. And I assured him that Venezuelan society is united.
More than 90% of Venezuelans want the same thing: we want to live with freedom, with dignity, with justice. We want our children back home, and for that to happen, there has to be democracy and freedom,” Machado said. “You can rest assured that President Trump is committed to the freedom of all political prisoners in Venezuela and to the freedom of all Venezuelans,” she added. She also recounted how she “presented” the Nobel Peace Prize medal she received in December to President Trump as a gesture of gratitude for his support.
Trump had expressed his desire to receive the prize last year and did not hide his disappointment when Machado was chosen. Machado’s visit to Washington occurred almost two weeks after the United States launched a military operation in Caracas in which they arrested President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transferred to New York to be tried on drug trafficking charges.
The government of Venezuela then fell to the executive vice president of the Maduro government, Delcy Rodríguez, with whom Trump has established negotiations that have left Machado and the former presidential candidate of her opposition movement, Edmundo González, out of the picture. On Wednesday, Trump referred to Delcy Rodriguez as a “fantastic person” with whom he had a “long” phone call. “She’s someone we’ve worked very well with,” he said at a press conference at the White House. “I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” he concluded.
