Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says Venezuela’s transition requires freeing political prisoners, despite US backing for interim president.
WASHINGTON: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said true change in her country requires the release of political prisoners.
“It is not possible to speak of transition alongside repression,” Machado told reporters after visiting the Organization of American States.
She is touring Washington after a US attack ousted President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, allowing her to come out of hiding. Machado met President Donald Trump last week, giving him her Nobel peace prize medal.
Trump has sidelined Machado despite his administration previously recognising her proxy candidate as the real winner of the 2024 election.
Instead, Trump allowed Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to become interim president on the condition she cooperates with US demands.
Those demands include granting the United States access to Venezuela’s vast oil wealth.
Rodriguez has begun slowly releasing some of the estimated 800 political prisoners in Venezuelan jails.
“So the first thing that needs to happen, the priority at this time, is obviously the release of political prisoners,” Machado said. “They need true freedom.”
The opposition claims Maduro stole the 2024 election from candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a claim supported by Washington.
Trump has stated Machado lacks sufficient support among Venezuelans, opting to continue backing Rodriguez.
