Is María Corina Machado mulling a visit to Miami after her White House confab with Trump?
By Tim Padgett
January 12, 2026 at 7:14 PM EST
Several sources close to the political team of Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado say she's considering a visit to Miami later this week after she meets in Washington with President Donald Trump — who recently disparaged her prospects of ever governing her South American country.
On Monday, Machado met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, urging the pontiff to to push for the release of more Venezuelan political prisoners.
Machado is scheduled to sit down with Trump at the White House on Thursday.
Their meeting will come less than two weeks after Trump ordered a U.S. military operation into Venezuela that arrested dictator Nicolás Maduro, who was wanted in the U.S. on drug-trafficking charges, and brought him to New York.
Machado is widely expected to eventually become Venezuela's president now in the wake of Maduro's ouster. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for leading a democratic movement that vote tallies show defeated Maduro by a landslide in the 2024 presidential election that critics say he stole.
But only hours after Maduro's capture on Saturday, Jan. 3, Trump — who has angrily criticized the Nobel committee for not awarding him the peace prize — stunningly asserted that Machado "does not have the support or respect within" Venezuela to lead the country.
Machado has since offered to give her Nobel to Trump in gratitude, she said, for his "decisive action" in Venezuela. (The Nobel committee said over the weekend, however, that that would not be allowed.)
Most Venezuelans, though — especially in South Florida, home to the U.S.'s largest Venezuelan expat community — disagree with Trump, according to polls. Many are urging her to visit Miami on Friday — and perhaps hold a Venezuelan democracy restoration rally at a site like downtown Bayfront Park — to emphasize her strong standing with Venezuelans.
"It would be a show of strength, to show the Trump administration that she's a popular cause," said Venezuelan exile journalist and entrepreneur Francisco Poleo, of Coral Gables, who hopes she does decide to come to Miami.
"It would be beneficial in a political sense to side with her and to be with her."
Representatives of Machado's team could not confirm to WLRN whether she has decided to make the trip to Miami or not.
The multiple sources who spoke to WLRN asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
READ MORE: For anxious Venezuelan diaspora, 'actual regime change' and a Machado presidency remain key
When asked about a possible Machado visit, exiles like Beatriz Olavarria, a Miami coordinator for Machado’s political party, Vente Venezuela, said if she does come, she'll receive an enthusiastic reception indicative of the support she enjoys both inside and outside Venezuela.
Since Trump's remarks, "there has been a lot of favorable reaction toward her from both Republicans and people internationally — like a campaign insisting that María Corina is the one to be behind" as Venezuela transitions to democracy post-Maduro.
Olavarria argues that much of that backing is a result not just of her pro-democracy work, but of the detailed economic and social planning Machado has drafted for Venezuela's post-dictatorship recovery — when it will need to dig out from the worst humanitarian crisis in modern South American history.
The Republicans Olavarria refers to most are Miami's U.S. congressional lawmakers — Carlos Gimenez, Maria Elvira Salazar and Mario Diaz-Balart — who have come out in support of Machado after Jan. 3. Internationally, leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron, have also backed her efforts.
Trump says Maduro’s vice president — now acting President Delcy Rodríguez — will run Venezuela for him, for now, especially in terms of handing Venezuela's oil reserves, the world's largest.
Trump said last week that Venezuela would be providing 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., and he pledged to use proceeds from the sale of this oil “to benefit the people” of both countries.
Most Venezuela watchers acknowledge that handing Maduro regime holdovers like Rodríguez the reins for a brief period will maintain stability for regime change. At the same time, many fear Trump is less serious about restoring democracy there — including holding a new presidential election before the year is out, which Machado would likely win — than he is about extracting crude.
And that, they add, may be a big reason he pointedly sidelined Machado on Jan. 3.
Since the 2024 presidential election — which observers agree was won by opposition candidate Edmundo González, who was substituting for Machado because Maduro had barred her from running — Machado had been in hiding inside Venezuela until October, when she secretly traveled to Norway to receive the Nobel.
A big question is whether she plans now to return to Venezuela — though Rodríguez and other regime hardliners continue to crack down on dissidents even after Maduro's removal, and even as they've released a few dozen of the almost 900 political prisoners in Venezuela in recent days.
On Monday, Machado met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, urging the pontiff to to push for the release of more Venezuelan political prisoners.
Machado is scheduled to sit down with Trump at the White House on Thursday.
Their meeting will come less than two weeks after Trump ordered a U.S. military operation into Venezuela that arrested dictator Nicolás Maduro, who was wanted in the U.S. on drug-trafficking charges, and brought him to New York.
Machado is widely expected to eventually become Venezuela's president now in the wake of Maduro's ouster. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in October for leading a democratic movement that vote tallies show defeated Maduro by a landslide in the 2024 presidential election that critics say he stole.
But only hours after Maduro's capture on Saturday, Jan. 3, Trump — who has angrily criticized the Nobel committee for not awarding him the peace prize — stunningly asserted that Machado "does not have the support or respect within" Venezuela to lead the country.
Machado has since offered to give her Nobel to Trump in gratitude, she said, for his "decisive action" in Venezuela. (The Nobel committee said over the weekend, however, that that would not be allowed.)
Most Venezuelans, though — especially in South Florida, home to the U.S.'s largest Venezuelan expat community — disagree with Trump, according to polls. Many are urging her to visit Miami on Friday — and perhaps hold a Venezuelan democracy restoration rally at a site like downtown Bayfront Park — to emphasize her strong standing with Venezuelans.
"It would be a show of strength, to show the Trump administration that she's a popular cause," said Venezuelan exile journalist and entrepreneur Francisco Poleo, of Coral Gables, who hopes she does decide to come to Miami.
"It would be beneficial in a political sense to side with her and to be with her."
Representatives of Machado's team could not confirm to WLRN whether she has decided to make the trip to Miami or not.
The multiple sources who spoke to WLRN asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
READ MORE: For anxious Venezuelan diaspora, 'actual regime change' and a Machado presidency remain key
When asked about a possible Machado visit, exiles like Beatriz Olavarria, a Miami coordinator for Machado’s political party, Vente Venezuela, said if she does come, she'll receive an enthusiastic reception indicative of the support she enjoys both inside and outside Venezuela.
Since Trump's remarks, "there has been a lot of favorable reaction toward her from both Republicans and people internationally — like a campaign insisting that María Corina is the one to be behind" as Venezuela transitions to democracy post-Maduro.
Olavarria argues that much of that backing is a result not just of her pro-democracy work, but of the detailed economic and social planning Machado has drafted for Venezuela's post-dictatorship recovery — when it will need to dig out from the worst humanitarian crisis in modern South American history.
The Republicans Olavarria refers to most are Miami's U.S. congressional lawmakers — Carlos Gimenez, Maria Elvira Salazar and Mario Diaz-Balart — who have come out in support of Machado after Jan. 3. Internationally, leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron, have also backed her efforts.
Trump says Maduro’s vice president — now acting President Delcy Rodríguez — will run Venezuela for him, for now, especially in terms of handing Venezuela's oil reserves, the world's largest.
Trump said last week that Venezuela would be providing 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., and he pledged to use proceeds from the sale of this oil “to benefit the people” of both countries.
Most Venezuela watchers acknowledge that handing Maduro regime holdovers like Rodríguez the reins for a brief period will maintain stability for regime change. At the same time, many fear Trump is less serious about restoring democracy there — including holding a new presidential election before the year is out, which Machado would likely win — than he is about extracting crude.
And that, they add, may be a big reason he pointedly sidelined Machado on Jan. 3.
Since the 2024 presidential election — which observers agree was won by opposition candidate Edmundo González, who was substituting for Machado because Maduro had barred her from running — Machado had been in hiding inside Venezuela until October, when she secretly traveled to Norway to receive the Nobel.
A big question is whether she plans now to return to Venezuela — though Rodríguez and other regime hardliners continue to crack down on dissidents even after Maduro's removal, and even as they've released a few dozen of the almost 900 political prisoners in Venezuela in recent days.