Machado declines to join U.S.-brokered transition talks
CARACAS — Interim President Delcy Rodríguez and opposition leader María Corina Machado presented competing visions for Venezuela on Thursday, setting the stage for a power struggle between the White House-backed leader and the country’s most popular political figure.
Machado spoke at her first news conference since her surprise return from exile on Sunday. “The transition toward democracy is irreversible,” she said from a university auditorium, as hundreds of cheering students outside sang the national anthem and shouted “freedom.” She said the U.S.’s three-phase recovery plan for Venezuela was progressing but complained that Rodríguez had yet to fully dismantle a repressive state apparatus.
Two hours earlier, Rodríguez, whom the U.S. installed as leader in January and who polls show is rejected by two-thirds of Venezuelans, addressed Venezuelans in a 15-minute prerecorded video, touting economic and judicial reforms while remaining vague about when she would allow a vote. “The political horizon in Venezuela can’t be measured by a date on the calendar,” Rodríguez said, adding that elections ought not to be a “generator of conflicts.”
Both women wore white pantsuits, a color that has long been a signature of Machado’s political appearances, as each presented herself as a leader who can bring economic and political change with sharply different levels of urgency.
The showdown is a preview of the political contest taking shape ahead of Venezuela’s eventual elections. It is also a test for the Trump administration as it seeks to revamp the country’s economy and reopen its prized energy sector to American investors, after U.S. commandos ousted Nicolás Maduro in January.
Machado’s return has put her in a delicate position as she navigates her relationship with the Trump administration. The president has praised the cooperation of Rodríguez’s government in securing major oil deals and opening Venezuela to foreign investment.
Machado said she would not participate in the U.S.-brokered transition talks. Her first attempts to return to Venezuela over the summer failed, partly because of opposition from Washington, and she and her aides have grown increasingly critical of the plan brokered by the U.S. between the government and a different faction of the opposition. The three rounds of talks, which began in August and aim to overhaul the judiciary and electoral authorities to lay the groundwork for elections, have not yielded a concrete timetable for a vote, and some of Machado’s allies have described the talks as a brazen attempt by Rodríguez to buy time.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump and other U.S. officials have communicated directly to Rodríguez that they expect her not to interfere with Machado’s presence in Venezuela, while warning Machado and her movement to support the reconciliation efforts and not to agitate for mass demonstrations. “If anybody tries to derail that process, they’re doing great harm to Venezuela,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Washington this week. “You’re not going to street-protest your way into a democracy.”
As small pockets of protests have broken out around the country over chronic power outages and economic struggles, Machado’s advisers are working to convince U.S. officials that supporting their movement is the only way to pacify a country that polls show is growing impatient with the Trump-Rodríguez partnership.
Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela, has long pressured authorities to work faster toward organizing presidential elections, a call that has taken on added urgency since her return. Trump has repeatedly said the country isn’t ready to vote. Henry Alviárez, the party’s national coordinator, said he backed Sen. Bernie Moreno’s (R., Ohio) proposal to hold the vote in late July 2027. “What’s most important is that we have an election date set,” Alviárez said. “Only then does a real transition begin, because the Venezuelan people will be calm and have more certainty.”
Machado’s team has also condemned the oil deal the U.S. recently signed with Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, arguing that any major oil investment will only materialize once a democratic government comes to power.
Since returning, Machado has reconnected with supporters and aides, including her lawyer, who remains under house arrest. On Wednesday she visited coastal communities in La Guaira state, where an earthquake in June killed thousands. Alviárez said she is planning a nationwide campaign tour to rally support ahead of a likely run for the presidency.
After the controversial 2024 election cemented Maduro’s grip on power, Machado — a Nobel Peace Prize winner who remains the country’s most popular politician by far in polls — spent more than a year in hiding before fleeing the country by boat under cover of darkness. She then spent 11 months in exile and made seven failed attempts to return before reappearing last weekend.
Her reception has given a jolt of optimism to opposition supporters who were thrilled by Maduro’s ouster but have grown disgruntled as his longtime deputy, Rodríguez, remains in power with U.S. backing. “I kept asking myself whether it was true or not,” said Carla Aponte, a 35-year-old office worker who joined thousands of supporters on the streets of Caracas to welcome Machado’s caravan on Sunday. “I couldn’t believe it.” Carlos Cardozo, a 26-year-old motorcycle-taxi driver who made a 10-hour journey to see Machado, said, “I was working when I found out. I said, ‘Let’s go welcome our leader.’”