White House: Trump maintains view that Machado lacks support to lead Venezuela

Washington. – The president of the United States, Donald Trump, maintains his opinion that the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, María Corina Machado, with whom he meets this Thursday at the White House, does not have enough support in Venezuela to lead a transition in that country, according to spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. Asked if Trump had changed his stance on the Nobel Peace Prize, Leavitt warned that the president’s “was a realistic assessment, based on what the president was reading and hearing from his advisors and his national security team.”

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“At this time, his opinion on that matter has not changed,” the spokesperson said at a press conference. Machado arrived this noon at the White House for a lunch with the US president, less than two weeks after the US detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during a surprise operation in Venezuela, in which his wife, Cilia Flores, was also captured, and both were subsequently transferred to New York to face charges of narcoterrorism. Leavitt confirmed that the meeting between Trump and Machado, the first between the two and currently closed to the press, was taking place during his exchange with journalists and assured that the president recognizes the opposition leader’s efforts and her fight for democracy in the South American country. “I know the president was looking forward to this meeting and that he hoped it would be a good and positive conversation with Ms. Machado, who is truly a remarkable and courageous voice for many people in Venezuela. So the president is, obviously, looking forward to talking to her about the reality in the country,” added the spokesperson. The Venezuelan opposition leader entered the US executive residence this Thursday through a side door instead of the main entrance, reserved for heads of state and high dignitaries, and did not answer questions from the press.

So far, the leader and his Administration have ruled out Machado and his opposition movement from the first stage of transition in Venezuela, and have instead bet on the Chavista vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed power as acting president under the endorsement of Washington.

“I think it would be very difficult for her (Machado) to be the leader. She does not have the support or respect within the country. She is a very kind woman, but she does not enjoy the necessary respect,” Trump said during a press conference on January 3, hours after Maduro’s capture.