President Donald Trump warned Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado about returning to Venezuela. The current situation and the political climate are too dangerous to do so, and the president is worried about her safety should she return.
Machado and Trump met last Friday at the White House for breakfast, the New York Times reported. The meeting lasted two hours, and Trump expressed his concern to Machado, urging her to wait several weeks before returning. According to sources, Trump’s suggestion to Machado was merely a recommendation, not an order.
Machado had reportedly been out of the country since traveling to Oslo, Norway, to receive her Nobel Peace Prize award. The organization recognized her history of opposing former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and named her the 2025 recipient of the prize in October. Machado participated in a daring escape from Venezuela, where she was in hiding for nearly a year from Maduro’s regime, to attend this year’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December.
As part of the ruse to extract her from Venezuela, Machado wore a disguise to leave the country, violating Venezuela’s then-travel ban, according to the Associated Press. She then avoided being recognized at 10 military checkpoints throughout Venezuela and boarded a fishing boat bound for an airport. She then flew to Bangor, Maine, and later refueled before heading to Oslo for the ceremony. She was unable to arrive on time for the award ceremony, and her daughter accepted it on her behalf. The Trump administration helped organize Machado’s escape and journey to Norway.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration ordered a military operation in Venezuela, which led to the capture of Maduro and his wife. Both were extracted from the country and sent to New York City, New York, where they faced federal charges.
Machado was in Chile this week to attend the inauguration of new President Jose Antonio Kast, the Associated Press reported. She lauded the Trump administration’s efforts in helping Venezuela and hailed the U.S. as the “only nation in the world that has risked the lives of its citizens to secure freedom in Venezuela.”
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Machado also reportedly addressed a crowd of 700,000 Venezuelan refugees in Chile due to the political crisis in Venezuela. She asked for the support of Latin Americans to help those displaced throughout South America, so they could eventually all “return with dignity and freedom” to their home country.
“Nearly 700,000 Venezuelans live in this country,” said Machado. “They are decent people who were forced to flee their homeland to save their lives,” she said. “What we are doing here today is 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.”