In an unannounced diplomatic engagement, Pope Leo XIV convened with Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado during a private audience at the Vatican on Monday. The meeting, absent from the pontiff’s originally published schedule, was subsequently documented in the Holy See’s official daily bulletin without elaboration.
Machado’s appearance at the Vatican forms part of her extensive international tour across Europe and the United States, following her December reappearance to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. The opposition leader, like many of her political allies, has operated primarily from exile or under detention amid Venezuela’s prolonged political crisis.
The American-born Pope has maintained consistent diplomatic interest in Venezuela’s sovereignty following the controversial extraction of former President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces from Caracas. Maduro currently faces federal narcotics trafficking charges in New York courts. Pope Leo previously expressed profound concern regarding these developments while advocating for the preservation of human and civil rights throughout the Latin American nation.
Venezuela’s opposition movement, historically supported by both Republican and Democratic U.S. administrations, had committed to restoring democratic governance to the oil-rich nation by displacing Maduro’s regime. This objective suffered a significant setback when U.S. President Donald Trump permitted Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume executive control.
Machado, upon receiving the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, proposed dedicating the honor to Trump alongside the Venezuelan people. The American president has publicly expressed personal ambition for the prestigious award since returning to office.