MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Venezuela's leading opposition figure came to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Trump for the first time and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Maria Corina Machado is making a push to remain part of Venezuela's future after the U.S. military operation that led to the seizure of deposed leader Nicolás Maduro. Trump has sidelined Machado and is backing Venezuela's acting president, who, at the same time yesterday, was in Caracas, giving a defiant and at times compliant speech before lawmakers.
MARTIN: For more, we go to NPR's South America correspondent Carrie Kahn, who joins us from Rio de Janeiro. Carrie, good morning.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So Maria Corina Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize - at least her citation - to Trump. Why?
KAHN: She told a reporter she presented it to him as, quote, "a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom." Trump did confirm he accepted it on social media. He wrote, Maria presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.
Machado has been trying to curry favor with Trump since she received the prize. Trump has long bemoaned not being awarded it. After the U.S. capture of Maduro, Trump shockingly announced he was not backing Machado. He said she didn't have the support or respect within Venezuela. Recent polling by Bloomberg and The Economist shows she still has substantial support. And her party is widely believed to have won the disputed 2024 presidential election by a landslide.
MARTIN: So let's turn to the person that President Trump is backing in Venezuela - the interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, who was obviously a part of the previous regime. She was giving a big speech in Venezuela at the same time that Machado was in D.C. It was kind of an interesting split-screen image. So what did Rodriguez say?
KAHN: The timing was extraordinary. Rodriguez gave a scheduled speech, a state-of-the-nation speech. She was stepping in for deposed President Maduro. Rodriguez has been walking this balancing act. She tries to appease hard-liners in the government with defiant talk while also making sure not to upset Trump. And yesterday, she definitely did just that. She was saying, look - pretty much - our country was attacked, invaded by the strongest military in the world, a nuclear power. So we have to resume diplomatic relations with the U.S., and we can't be afraid to do that. But then she added, if one day I go to Washington, she says, it will be on her terms.
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ACTING PRESIDENT DELCY RODRIGUEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: "I will do so standing tall, not being dragged, never crawling," she said. She said she's also open to foreign investment in the state oil industry, and the Trump administration has already announced it's begun selling Venezuela's oil.
MARTIN: Did Rodriguez say anything about releasing more political prisoners?
KAHN: She did say there is a massive release underway, and it will continue in what she says is this new era of tolerance of opposition in Venezuela. Families of prisoners are still holding vigil at prisons and waiting for releases. Here's Aurora Silva. She's at a maximum security prison outside Caracas. She's been waiting for days for her husband, who's a member of Machado's opposition party, to be released. He was picked up in the widespread repression following the disputed 2024 presidential elections.
AURORA SILVA: (Speaking Spanish).
KAHN: She says they need to fulfill their promise of this massive freeing of prisoners and, she says - and finally end all of our suffering and pain. You know, they've been waiting there for days, overnight in the cold and in terrible conditions, waiting for these releases. The government says more than 400 prisoners have been released. Rights groups say that number is in the dozens, and there are more than 800 political prisoners still in jails in Venezuela.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Carrie Kahn in Rio de Janeiro. Carrie, thank you.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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