Related videos:
The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met on Tuesday with the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, at the State Department in Washington, in a meeting that she described as "excellent".
After the meeting, Machado posted on X: "Thank you for your commitment to democracy, freedom, and the well-being of Venezuelans. The day is approaching when we will reunite our families in Venezuela. We move forward."
This is the third high-level meeting between them in less than three months, as part of the political transition process currently taking place in Venezuela.
The first official meeting between Rubio and Machado took place on January 28, 2026, behind closed doors at the Department of State, where the secretary remarked that Machado "can be part of" the Venezuelan transition process.
On March 7, Machado met at the White House with President Donald Trump, Rubio, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to discuss the roadmap for the transition.
During that visit to Washington, the opposition leader also met with 17 senators and 27 congressmen to convey the "enormous potential" of a democratic Venezuela.
The backdrop of this new meeting is the tension between Washington's pragmatism and Machado's demands, who insists that the transition must include free elections, justice for the victims of Chavismo, and the complete dismantling of the regime's structures.
On Monday, Rubio stated that "civil life returns to Venezuela" and emphasized that, for the first time in decades, the country is selling its oil at full market price, with direct revenues going to the Venezuelan people.
That same day, the United States officially resumed operations at its embassy in Caracas, another sign of progress in the normalization of bilateral relations.
The party of Machado, Vente Venezuela, reopened its national headquarters in Caracas on March 28, and the organization confirmed on March 29 that the opposition leader will return to the country "in the coming days" to exercise her civic rights.
Machado left Venezuela in December 2025 to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, an award he received for his work in promoting democratic rights in Venezuela, although he could not be present in person and his daughter Ana Corina Sosa Machado accepted the award and read his speech.
The imminent return of Machado to Venezuela adds a significant symbolic and political dimension to this meeting with Rubio, at a time when the opposition leader has emphasized that "stabilization is not the same as transition".
Filed under: