María Corina Machado has broken her silence on Donald Trump's oil deal with Venezuela's interim government, arguing the country's natural resources cannot be negotiated away without a democratic mandate. The Nobel peace prize winner stopped short of directly attacking Trump, while her own supporters fear the deal leaves Washington less inclined to push for fresh elections.
Machado challenges the deal's legitimacy
Machado made her first public comments since Trump announced the agreement last Friday in a video posted to social media. She said the United States remains the partner Venezuela needs to develop its resources, but argued the interim administration in Caracas lacks the democratic mandate to sign away the country's subsoil wealth.
According to The Guardian: "The wealth of our subsoil does not belong to an illegitimate regime". Machado said supporters feel sadness and anger at being shut out of the decision.
A deal that bypasses Machado
Trump struck the agreement with interim president Delcy Rodríguez, who took power in January after Nicolás Maduro was abducted by US special forces. Many observers had expected Trump to instead install Machado, a democracy activist who gave the president her Nobel award, but he backed Rodríguez and warned her against stepping out of line.
Venezuela holds the world's largest proven crude reserves, an estimated 303 billion barrels, more than 65 billion of which fall under the new agreement. The White House says the deal secures US energy dominance and pushes China and Russia out of Venezuelan oilfields. Energy secretary Chris Wright said the aim is to grow production and economic opportunity in the country.
Election timing left vague
Critics call the arrangement a predatory, colonial-style land grab, and Machado's supporters fear it leaves Washington with less incentive to press for a new presidential vote. Machado's movement is widely believed to have defeated Maduro by a landslide in the 2024 election, a result Maduro refused to accept until his removal in January 2026.
Both Trump and Rodríguez sidestepped questions this week about when Venezuela might vote again, with Rodríguez saying only that an electoral process will come once the country is ready.
Source: The Guardian
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