Name: U.S.-Venezuela relations: Machado visits White House
Uploaded: 2026-01-16T13:12:31.512Z
Duration: 2 min 6 s
Description: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says she presented her Nobel Peace Medal to Donald Trump at the White House.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says she presented her Nobel Peace Medal to Donald Trump at the White House.

Washington

Maria Corina Machado, recognized as the de facto leader of the Venezuelan opposition, visited the White House for the first time since the US detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Machado reported a positive meeting and emphasized Venezuelan unity and the desire for democracy, but there was no indication from President Trump that a transition in Venezuela is a priority.

Despite Machado's efforts, the US continues to support Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's vice president, and has increased its control over Venezuela's oil industry, including the seizure of another Venezuelan-linked oil tanker. The US naval blockade remains in place, and the opposition continues to be sidelined.

U.S.-Venezuela relations: Machado visits White House

It was a big meeting for Maria Corina Machado, the de facto leader of the Venezuelan opposition, heading to the White House on Thursday for the first time since Nicolás Maduro, her adversary and Venezuela's president, was captured and detained by the US. She said it went well. I was very impressed by how clear he is, how he understands the situation in Venezuela, how he cares about the suffering of the Venezuelan people, and I assured him that Venezuelan society is united. Today, more than 90% of Venezuelans want the same thing. We want to live in freedom, with dignity, with justice. We want our children back home, and for that to happen, there must be democracy. But despite offering President Trump the Nobel Peace Medal she won last year, an award he wanted badly for himself, there was no photo op and no indication that a transition is a priority for him. Instead, he continues to back the vice president of the man he removed, Delcy Rodríguez. She's a terrific person. I mean, she's somebody that we've worked with very well. That didn't stop her railing against the US for Jodós' capture on Thursday, albeit carefully. We know they are a lethal nuclear power. We have seen their record in the history of humanity. We know and we are not afraid to face them diplomatically. A battle through letters she promised the Venezuelan National Assembly. In reality, she's having to work with and even under Trump, in particular handing over much of the control of Venezuela's oil industry to the US. That control underlined when US forces seized a sixth Venezuelan linked oil tanker at dawn on Thursday. The US naval blockade of the country continues. So does its backing of the same government that it and many others have repeatedly accused of election stealing and human rights abuses. With the opposition, for the moment, out in the cold. John Holman, Al Jazeera.

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