Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado visited the White House for talks with President Donald Trump.
After a closed-door meeting of more than two hours, she told supporters: "We are counting on President Trump". Machado announced that she had offered Trump her Nobel Peace Prize, without specifying whether he had accepted it.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt described the opposition leader as a "remarkable and courageous voice" of the Venezuelan people, but recalled that Trump maintained his opinion of her and questioned her ability to impose democratic rule in Venezuela. According to Trump, Machado has no support among the people. The White House spokesman reiterated that Donald Trump supports holding elections in the Latin American country, but when the time is right.
At the same time, interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said that the authorities in Caracas are not afraid of a confrontation with the administration in Washington at the diplomatic level. In an address to the nation from the rostrum of parliament, she said that she had asked Americans to show respect for the dignity of the current head of state, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. Rodriguez called for reforms in the oil industry that would attract foreign investment. According to her, the funds from them would go to improve health services, economic development and infrastructure projects.