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Venezuelan opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado visited the White House on Thursday to discuss her country\u2019s future with President Donald Trump, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after\u00a0an audacious U.S. military raid\u00a0captured then-President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n
Visiting Trump presented something of a physical risk for Machado, whose whereabouts have been largely unknown since she left her country last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. Nevertheless, after a closed-door discussion with Trump, she greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the gates \u2014stopping to hug many.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can count on President Trump,\u201d she told them, prompting some to briefly chant \u201cThank you, Trump,\u201d but she didn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n
The jubilant scene stood in contrast to Trump having repeatedly raised doubts about Machado and his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela. He has signaled his willingness to work with\u00a0acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who was Maduro\u2019s No. 2.<\/p>\n
Along with others in the deposed leader\u2019s inner circle, Rodr\u00edguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was delivering\u00a0her first state of the union speech\u00a0during Machado\u2019s Washington trip.<\/p>\n
In endorsing Rodr\u00edguez so far, Trump sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. That\u2019s despite Machado seeking to cultivate relationships with the president and key administration voices like\u00a0Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government and some of its top conservatives.<\/p>\n
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado \u201ca remarkable and brave voice\u201d for the people of Venezuela, but also said that the meeting didn\u2019t mean Trump\u2019s opinion of her changed, calling it \u201ca realistic assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she \u201cdoesn\u2019t have the support within or the respect within the country.\u201d Her party is widely believed to have\u00a0won 2024 elections\u00a0rejected by Maduro.<\/p>\n
Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections \u201cwhen the time is right\u201d but did not say when he thought that might be.<\/p>\n
Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado,\u201d the press secretary said, other than to have a \u201dfrank and positive discussion about what\u2019s taking place in Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n
All told, Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she\u2019d offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only \u201cgracias.\u201d It wasn\u2019t clear she\u2019d heard the question as she hugged and her waiting supporters.<\/p>\n
Machado was next appearing on Capitol Hill, for a meeting in the Senate before planning to speak to reporters.<\/p>\n
Her Washington stop began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea\u00a0seized another sanctioned oil tanker\u00a0that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.<\/p>\n
It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of\u00a0the South American country\u2019s oil\u00a0after\u00a0U.S. forces seized Maduro\u00a0and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on\u00a0drug trafficking charges.<\/p>\n
Leavitt said Venezuela\u2019s interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s government said it planned to release more\u00a0prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were\u00a0five Americans\u00a0this week.<\/p>\n
Rodr\u00edguez has adopted\u00a0a less strident position toward Trump\u00a0then she did immediately after Maduro\u2019s ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration\u2019s \u201cAmerica First\u201d policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela \u2014 at least for now.<\/p>\n
Trump said Wednesday that he had a \u201cgreat conversation\u201d with Rodr\u00edguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,\u201d Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. \u201cAnd I think we\u2019re getting along very well with Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela\u2019s interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro\u2019s capture, Trump said of Machado that \u201cit would be very tough for her to be the leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after\u00a0winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was\u00a0rejected by the Nobel Institute.<\/p>\n
Machado remained in hiding even after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. She missed the ceremony but briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the award on her behalf.<\/p>\n
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, S\u00famate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Ch\u00e1vez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other S\u00famate executives were charged with conspiracy.<\/p>\n
A year later, she drew the anger of Ch\u00e1vez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Ch\u00e1vez considered Bush an adversary.<\/p>\n
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a\u00a0brutal crackdown by state security forces.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Venezuelas #opposition #leader #doesnt #respond #reporter #questions #gave #Nobel #Trump<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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