Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s meeting with Donald Trump at the White House Thursday didn’t appear to shift the US president’s approach to Caracas’ leadership.
Machado said she gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize as she pushes for a democratic transition in Venezuela, but the White House “made clear it was a courtesy meeting,” The Wall Street Journal wrote.
Trump has pursued a two-track strategy of outreach to the opposition, while also pressuring — and at times praising — Caracas’ interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez. Both she and Machado are fighting to convince Trump… that they are the right people to lead,” El País wrote.
The power struggle comes as US forces on Thursday seized another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean.