Foreign Pool Report #1. Background on Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado´s visit to the White House

Buenos días,

I am your foreign pooler for María Corina Machado’s visit to the White House. As of now, the lunch meeting between her and President Trump is closed to the press. It will take place at 12:30 PM in the Private Dining Room, according to the president’s official schedule. This will be the first in-person meeting between them.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

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Schedule:

Machado is expected to arrive at the White House around noon to formally begin the meeting with Trump at 12:30 PM, according to the opposition leaders’ press office representing María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, which informed your foreign pooler.

After the meeting with Trump, Machado plans to hold a closed-door meeting in the afternoon with members of Congress from both parties.

Machado’s visit to the United States comes after a private meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Monday, where she asked him to intercede for the release of political prisoners in Venezuela. She reappeared in public in December after 11 months in hiding to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.

Focus of the Meeting:

The meeting is expected to address the role Venezuela’s opposition will play in the country’s political future.

Machado wants to convey to Trump the "gratitude of the Venezuelan people for his unwavering support for democracy and justice in the country," and she plans to ask him to “advocate for the release of all political prisoners," according to the opposition leader’s press office, as told to your foreign pooler.

According to those sources, Machado will also express her confidence in Venezuela’s future "in all areas,"including the return to the country of the millions of Venezuelans who have fled, and her hope that they will become "key actors in national reconstruction, generating prosperity and opportunities for Venezuela and the region," according to her office.

Trump, however, has questioned Machado’s ability to lead Venezuela’s future government. In a press conference on January 3, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, he said it would be "very tough" for her to be the leader because she "doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country".

In a Reuters interview yesterday, Trump said that Machado is a “very nice woman." "I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics," he said in reference to today’s meeting.

Trump has praised Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who served as vice president under Nicolás Maduro and now leads the country. After a phone call yesterday, Trump described Rodríguez as a “terrific person."

Relationship between Trump and Machado:

Machado has been careful not to offend Trump, especially after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which she dedicated both to him and to the people of Venezuela.

In a Fox News interview on January 5th, two days after the operation that led to Nicolás Maduro’s capture, Machado expressed her wish to share her Nobel Peace Prize with Trump. "I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him [Trump] that the Venezuelan people [...] want to give it [the Nobel Peace Prize] to him and share it with him", she said then.

In response, Trump described the prospect as a "great honor." When asked last Friday if sharing the prize would influence his willingness to support her as Venezuela’s leader, he replied, “I have to speak to her.”

Even if Machado were to offer him the prize today, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, which oversees the Nobel Peace Prize, has already clarified that once awarded, the prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked.

Contact Between Machado and Trump:

Machado said in the January 5th Fox News interview that she last spoke with Trump on October 10, the day the Nobel Peace Prize was announced. Trump said at the time that Machado was "very nice" during their call.

Bio:

Machado, 58, is a Venezuelan opposition leader, former lawmaker and founder of the political movement Vente Venezuela, who has emerged as the leading figure in the country’s anti-government movement.

She rose to national prominence in the early 2000s as a co-founder of Súmate, a civil society group that helped organize the 2004 recall referendum against then-President Hugo Chávez. In 2010, she was elected to Venezuela’s National Assembly. Her term ended in 2014, when authorities removed her from office after she addressed the Organization of American States to denounce human rights abuses, an action the government said violated the Constitution.

Machado returned to the political spotlight a decade later, winning the opposition’s 2023 primary to become its candidate for the 2024 presidential race. The Maduro government, however, barred her from running, citing an administrative disqualification. She then threw her support behind former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, who became the opposition nominee.

During the 2024 campaign, Machado drew large crowds across the country despite government efforts to block venues and detain activists, with international media portraying her as the driving force behind the opposition’s resurgence. Her blunt criticism of President Nicolás Maduro has earned her the nickname "Iron Lady" among supporters.

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