Marco Rubio and María Corina Machado will meet tomorrow in Washington

Washington.- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will receive Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Wednesday at the State Department headquarters, two weeks after she met with President Donald Trump and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal. According to Rubio’s official agenda, the meeting will be closed-door and will take place at 13:00 local time in Washington (18:00 GMT), after the head of US diplomacy informs the Senate about the Trump government’s policy towards Venezuela, a hearing scheduled for 10:00 local time. Machado has been in the US capital since last January 15, when he met with Trump at the White House to discuss the situation in Venezuela after the US attack on January 3 that resulted in the overthrow and arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Trump claims to have a very good relationship with the government of the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president who took power after the capture of the Chavista leader. According to the Republican, the United States oversees Venezuela and has reached oil agreements and obtained the release of several political prisoners. Although initially the White House left Machado out of the transition process, Trump expressed his desire to “involve” the opposition in the future of Venezuela after meeting with her.

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Before meeting with Machado, Marco Rubio will appear for the first time before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to detail the Trump Administration’s plan with Venezuela after the capture of Maduro. In his speech, which was published this Tuesday, Rubio will warn that Trump does not rule out the use of force if Delcy Rodríguez does not cooperate with Washington. “We will closely monitor the performance of the interim authorities as they cooperate with our phased plan to restore stability in Venezuela. Make no mistake: as the president has stated, we are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” he will express. According to Rubio, Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president who assumed power after the fall of the Chavista leader, has expressed her intention to cooperate with the United States, has pledged to open Venezuela’s energy sector to US companies, and to end the shipment of crude oil to Cuba. “Rodríguez is fully aware of Maduro’s fate; we believe that his own personal interest coincides with the advancement of our objectives,” he stated.