Trump to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado

France 24- Washington announced on Monday that Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado will meet President Donald Trump this week, as pressure grew on the interim leadership in Caracas to speed up the release of political prisoners.

Machado has been sidelined by Washington since US forces seized long-time authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and the Trump administration announced it would be “running” Venezuela.

Disregarding Machado and her ally Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, Trump has instead been working with acting president Delcy Rodriguez, who was left in power alongside other Maduro loyalists.

Trump has warned Rodriguez to toe Washington’s line or face consequences — particularly over granting access to the South American country’s vast oil reserves.

A US administration official told AFP that the Republican president will meet Machado at the White House on Thursday.

Venezuela, meanwhile, announced it had freed 116 more people jailed under Maduro — many detained for taking part in protests after his disputed 2024 election.

Rights groups questioned the figures, and family members clamoured for faster releases promised by Caracas under pressure from Washington.

Relatives have been camped outside prisons for days, growing increasingly restless as loved ones have failed to appear.

“We simply ask that they keep their word,” said Manuel Mendoza, who had driven six hours to be at El Rodeo prison, about 30 kilometres from Caracas, for his son Jose Daniel’s anticipated release.

“It’s already been four nights waiting out in the open air, suffering.”

UN experts and the opposition said only about 50 prisoners have been freed so far, out of the 800 to 1,200 that rights groups estimate are being held.