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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday (local time), marking their first face-to-face encounter since Trump directed a US military operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Al Jazeera reported.
Leaving the White House after meeting with Trump, Machado said, "We are counting on President Trump for the freedom of Venezuela". She offered her Nobel Peace Prize medal to the United States president, Al Jazeera reported. Meanwhile, supporters gathered outside the White House on Thursday (local time), urging action against Venezuela's current regime. They were waving flags calling for freedom and political change in their homeland. A supporter, Adriana Molinero, told ANI, "I have been here in the US for three years, and I'm here right now because I just want to go back and be part of the reconstruction of my country. I have a lot of friends who fought, who died, who are in prison right now just because they want to think differently... We just want freedom and want to express ourselves. I want to thank Maria Corina Machado. She has been the greatest leader in Venezuela right now, and to Donald Trump and Marco Rubio for helping our cause." Another supporter, Isabel Hayek, told ANI, "I truly trust in Maria Corina Machado. She's a big representation of the belief of all Venezuelans. She's a real leader... She is going to make President Trump understand that the people respect her, and the people respect him, and unfortunately, the current usurper of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, is not the person that Venezuela needs, wants, and deserves. We deserve Donald Trump, we deserve Maria Corina Machado, we thank Marco Rubio." Addressing reporters earlier, the US President described her as a "very nice woman," but said she "doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country" required to lead the nation. Machado, for her part, had earlier said on the Fox News programme Hannity that she wanted to "personally" thank Trump for the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, the United States has made its first sale of Venezuelan oil valued at USD 500 million, according to the Donald Trump administration, as reported by the New York-based news outlet Semafor. The development comes following the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the former leader of the South American country 11 days ago. Following this, Trump said that US is taking control of Venezuela's oil reserves and recruit American companies to invest billions of dollars to refurbish the country's gutted oil industry, CNN had reported. (ANI)
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