Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Thursday that the Trump administration remains a “fundamental ally” for the country’s democratic transition, even as the United States has supported acting President Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Machado made the comments in Santiago, the Chilean capital, where she said the “complex processes” ahead will require work but that the U.S. government remains a vital partner for Venezuela. She also highlighted a road map established by Trump, saying the process encompasses “three phases” — stabilization, recovery and a democratic transition.
Machado’s remarks were delivered against a backdrop that included the status of the 2024 election. International observers widely consider Machado-backed presidential candidate Edmundo González as the winner of the 2024 elections, though Machado herself was barred from running.
The comments came a week after the United States and Venezuela announced the restoration of diplomatic and consular relations. The timing also followed a period in which U.S. President Donald Trump complimented Rodríguez for “doing a great job, and working with U.S. Representatives very well.”
Before meeting with the Venezuelan diaspora in Chile, Machado praised the United States in language that linked U.S. involvement to Venezuela’s freedom. She told reporters the U.S. is the “only nation in the world that has risked the lives of its citizens to secure freedom in Venezuela,” and referred to a January U.S. military operation described in the report as aimed at capturing Nicolás Maduro.
Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, traveled to Chile to attend the inauguration of President José Antonio Kast. In her remarks, she also addressed the displacement of Venezuelans amid the country’s ongoing crisis.
“Nearly 700,000 Venezuelans live in this country. They are decent people who were forced to flee their homeland to save their lives,” Machado said, speaking to the diaspora before her remarks to other audiences. She added that what she said she was doing involved “asking all Chileans — and all Latin Americans — to help us ensure that every Venezuelan can return with dignity and freedom to the country they adore and that desperately needs them.”
Machado’s comments also came a day after Kast’s swearing-in ceremony. Kast has pledged to criminalize irregular immigration and expel nearly 330,000 foreigners living illegally in Chile, with the report saying the majority of them are Venezuelans.
Despite Kast’s hard-line positions on immigration, Machado said she was “very grateful to President Kast.” She argued that “every country has the right — indeed, the duty — to guarantee its own security.”