Pope meets Venezuelan Nobel Prize winner Maria Corina Machado

At the end of a Monday morning filled with meetings at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV received Maria Corina Machado, the former member of the Venezuelan National Assembly who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2025.

The meeting took place about 10 days after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores during the U.S. military operation known as “Operation Absolute Resolve” on January 3 in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Maduro, accused of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism, is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, United States.

A Venezuelan politician and human rights activist, Machado leads the liberal-conservative party “Vente Venezuela”, which has always opposed Maduro’s government. Forced to flee the country, she traveled to Oslo in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

This week—while Venezuela is being governed on an interim basis by Delcy Rodríguez, and while work is underway on a transition supported by the international community (news has also emerged in recent days of the release of several political prisoners)— Machado is expected in Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump, according to statements made by him.