Maria Machado Meets Pope at Vatican Before Trump Meeting

Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, was received at the Vatican by Pope Leo XIV. The meeting comes just days before a scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump.

The Holy See published photographs of the audience, without giving details of the content of the discussions. The meeting took place on the same day that Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced the release of two Italians, Alberto Trentini and Mario Burlo, who had been held in Venezuela since November 2024.

Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, has been sidelined by Washington after the US intervention in Venezuela that overthrew Nicolás Maduro.