Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado is set to meet the US president this week. Washington announced on Monday that Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado will meet President Donald Trump this week as pressure grew on the interim leadership in Caracas to speed up the release of political prisoners. Disregarding Machado and her understudy Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, Trump has been working instead with acting president Delcy Rodriguez, left in power with other Maduro allies.
Trump has warned Rodriguez to toe Washington’s line or face the consequences — particularly on granting access to the South American country’s vast oil reserves. Venezuela, meanwhile, announced it had freed 116 more people jailed under Maduro – many for taking part in protests after his disputed 2024 election. Rights groups questioned the numbers, and family members clamoured for speedier releases promised by Caracas under pressure from Washington.
Relatives have been camped out at prisons for days, growing increasingly restless as loved ones have failed to appear. “We simply ask that they keep their word,” said Manuel Mendoza, who had driven six hours to be at the El Rodeo prison, about 30 kilometers from Caracas, for his son’s Jose Daniel’s anticipated release. “It’s already been four nights waiting out in the open air, suffering.” UN experts and the opposition said only about 50 prisoners have been freed so far out of the 800-1,200 that rights groups estimate are being held.
