WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose pro-democracy movement he has sidelined since toppling her country’s leader, and whose Nobel Peace Prize he openly envies.
Machado’s White House visit comes a day after Trump used glowing terms to describe his first known call with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, confirming his satisfaction with the allies of Nicolas Maduro remaining in power, for now at least.
Trump called Rodriguez a “terrific person” and hailed “terrific progress” made since US special forces seized Maduro and his wife in a deadly raid.
Rodriguez said the call was “productive and courteous,” and characterized by “mutual respect.”
“Many topics were discussed,” Trump said on social media, “including Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security.”
Machado, who campaigned for years to end Maduro’s rule, will seek Thursday to bring the issue back into the foreground.
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