Trump to Meet Venezuelan Opposition Leader as Prisoner Releases Spark Doubt
The U.S. is intensifying its involvement in Venezuela’s political crisis, with President Donald Trump scheduled to meet with opposition leader María Corina Machado on Thursday, amid a wave of prisoner releases that rights groups are calling insufficient. The move comes as Washington navigates a complex strategy balancing pressure on the Maduro regime with securing access to the nation’s substantial oil reserves.
The Trump administration’s approach to Venezuela has been marked by a willingness to engage with multiple actors, even those with conflicting allegiances. Machado, who has been largely sidelined by Washington since U.S. forces seized long-term authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3rd, will receive a White House audience despite the administration’s parallel dealings with acting president Delcy Rodriguez and other Maduro allies.
According to a U.S. administration official, Trump has warned Rodriguez to align with Washington’s demands, particularly regarding access to Venezuela’s oil wealth. Despite this pressure, the administration is simultaneously pursuing negotiations with Rodriguez, seeking to reopen the U.S. embassy in Caracas, which was closed seven years ago. Trump stated on Sunday that his administration is working “really well” with Rodriguez’s and expressed hope that the recently freed prisoners “will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.”
Venezuela announced the release of 116 political prisoners on Monday, individuals largely detained following protests related to the disputed 2024 election. However, rights organizations are questioning the scale of the releases, estimating that only around 50 prisoners have been freed out of the 800-1,200 believed to be held by the government. Families of those imprisoned have expressed growing frustration, camping outside prisons for days awaiting the promised release of their loved ones.
“We simply ask that they keep their word,” said Manuel Mendoza, who traveled six hours to the El Rodeo prison, approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Caracas, hoping for his son’s release. “It’s already been four nights waiting out in the open air, suffering.”
The situation is further complicated by reports that some released prisoners are being taken from facilities through back exits, preventing families from seeing them. Rights NGO Foro Penal reported that 15 individuals were released from El Rodeo, but were quickly removed from the premises without allowing families to connect with them. The government in Caracas maintains that a review of prisoner files is ongoing.
Machado has also sought international support for the release of remaining prisoners, appealing to Pope Leo XIV on Monday to “intercede” on their behalf. “I asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared,” Machado said following an audience with the pontiff at the Vatican. Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who ran as the opposition’s presidential candidate in 2024 after Machado was disqualified, emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating that “every hour that passes is a new form of violence against families” of prisoners.
Despite Rodriguez’s ongoing negotiations with Washington, she has also been consolidating power within Venezuela, making recent ministerial changes, including appointing a former Maduro bodyguard to a key position overseeing the president’s agenda. She also replaced the head of the presidential guard, responsible for counterintelligence operations.
Machado underscored Urrutia’s “legitimacy” during her discussions with Pope Leo, seeking the pope’s support for a “prompt advancement of the transition to democracy in Venezuela.” The opposition and much of the international community recognize Urrutia as the legitimate winner of Venezuela’s last presidential election. Notably, Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year and dedicated the honor to Trump, who has publicly expressed frustration at not receiving the award himself.
Experts mandated to a U.N. fact-finding mission released a statement Monday asserting that the current number of released prisoners falls “far short of Venezuela’s international human rights obligations.” Frustration continues to mount among the approximately 40 relatives still camped outside El Rodeo prison, highlighting the precarious state of Venezuela’s political landscape and the uncertain future for its political prisoners.
