Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said the United States government kept her out of the negotiations that brought the administration of acting president Delcy Rodríguez together with a section of the opposition in Caracas this week. She said so in an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, 15 October 2026 — and she said it from abroad: Machado has been unable to return to Venezuela for months.
The remarks mark a public break with Washington by the figure that US policy on Venezuela had taken as its reference until this year. In January, after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro on the 3rd, President Donald Trump ruled Machado out as his successor and backed the continuation of chavismo under Rodríguez.
An oil partner at the centre of the complaint
Machado aimed the sharpest part of the interview at businessman Alejandro Betancourt, Washington's new energy partner. She accused him of "obscene corruption" and named him as one of those most responsible for her country's suffering. Betancourt is linked to an agreement with the Trump administration to control about a fifth of Venezuela's oil reserves, and he holds contracts in the sector.
She said Betancourt would not be a viable business partner in a government she led, but she drew a limit around that objection: she would respect the oil contracts signed in the current process provided they comply with Venezuelan law. What is missing to attract investment, she argued, is not contracts but security, stability and legitimacy.
"Sooner than they imagine"
On her return, Machado was brief: she will come back to Venezuela "sooner than they imagine", to mobilise her supporters ahead of future elections. In September, three countries denied landing rights to a flight she had tried to use to enter the country.
She also set out what she believes should happen with the abuse allegations of the current period: officials accused of violating human rights under Rodríguez's government should answer in court, she said, and she proposed an independent truth commission to gather victims' testimony and organise reparations.
Washington's reply
The US State Department rejected the account of her exclusion, saying that Machado's party, Vente Venezuela, was invited to take part in the talks, and that she has every right to enter her country whenever she wishes.
Machado won the opposition primaries in 2023 and, barred from running, backed Edmundo González Urrutia's candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. In 2025 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
With information from The New York Times, EFE, Infobae and BioBioChile.
