The presence of Venezuela’s opposition forces has been largely frozen out of U.S. discussions over the country’s future.
Published January 12, 2026
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado on Thursday, according to White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt.
Since the United States abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, the Venezuelan opposition figure has played little role in discussions about the country’s future, and President Trump has expressed doubts that she has the support needed to rule Venezuela. Machado said last week that he had not spoken to Trump since October.
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Instead, Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, took over the role of interim president amid threats of further military attack if the government did not comply with U.S. demands on a range of issues.
Venezuela’s government announced on Monday that it had released dozens of political prisoners jailed during protests against President Maduro after the disputed 2024 election.
After Maduro’s abduction, President Trump said of Machado, “I think it would be very difficult for her to be a leader.” “She is not supported or respected in the country. She is a very nice woman, but she is not respected.”
Machado, President Trump’s coveted winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, met with Pope Leo XIV on Monday.
“I am blessed and honored to share with His Holiness today and express my gratitude for his continued support of what is happening in our country,” Machado said in a statement.
“I also conveyed to him the strength of the Venezuelan people who continue to pray for freedom in Venezuela and asked him to intercede for all the Venezuelans who are still kidnapped and missing,” she added.
Pope Leo said Venezuela should remain an independent country after the US attack and said he was watching developments in the country with “deep concern”.
“The interests of our beloved Venezuelan people must take precedence over all considerations,” Leo said. “This should lead to overcoming violence and pursuing a path of justice and peace.”
Machado has sought to forge closer ties with the Trump administration, dedicating his Nobel Prize to Trump and recently saying he would like to share the award or present it directly to him.
“On behalf of the people of Venezuela, I want to say how grateful we are for his (Trump’s) courageous vision and the historic action he took against this narco-terrorist regime, dismantling this structure and bringing Maduro to justice,” Machado said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News last week.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute said in a statement last week that the Peace Prize cannot be revoked, transferred or shared, declaring that “the decision is final and remains in force in perpetuity.”
