Washington: US President Donald Trump has described his meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as a “great honour”, saying she presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize during their closed-door talks at the White House.
“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today,” Trump said in a social media post after the meeting. “She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much.”
Trump said Machado presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize “for the work I have done”, calling it “such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect”. He added: “Thank you María!”
The meeting, held over lunch in the White House’s Private Dining Room, marked the first in-person encounter between Trump and Machado.
Machado later told reporters that she had presented Trump with the Nobel Peace Prize medal, framing the act as a symbolic gesture rooted in shared democratic traditions between Venezuela and the United States.
She said she told Trump that 200 years ago, French General Marquis de Lafayette presented Venezuelan independence leader Simon Bolívar with a medal bearing the likeness of George Washington, which Bolívar kept for the rest of his life.
“Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal, in this case, the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize as a recognition for his unique commitment to our freedom,” Machado said.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute has said that once awarded, the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred, shared, or revoked.
Following her White House meeting, Machado headed to Capitol Hill for a bipartisan session with US senators hosted by Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen.
“María Corina Machado is an extraordinary person who is completely deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize after having risked her life to bring about change to the Venezuelan government and people,” Durbin said. Shaheen warned that “removing a dictator is not the same as restoring democracy,” adding that the United States must ensure Venezuela does not “simply transition from one authoritarian to another”.
Republican and Democratic senators alike praised Machado’s leadership and courage, while some also criticised the Trump administration’s approach to Venezuela following the removal of Nicolas Maduro.
Machado’s US visit followed a private meeting earlier this week with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, where she sought his intercession for the release of political prisoners. She reemerged publicly in December after 11 months in hiding to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.
(IANS)
