Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has spoken publicly for the first time about a recent oil agreement struck between the United States and Venezuela’s ruling socialist government, represented by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez. In a video posted to her social media accounts, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate argued that a deal of this magnitude cannot be legitimately negotiated with what she called an “illegitimate regime.”
“The wealth of our land does not belong to an illegitimate regime — it belongs to the Venezuelan people,” Machado said, pushing back against any arrangement that bypasses the country’s citizens. Despite her criticism of the Maduro government’s role in the negotiations, she made clear she does not oppose cooperation with Washington itself. Instead, she described the United States as the “key partner Venezuela needs” to fully develop its strategic potential, particularly given the country’s vast oil reserves, among the largest in the world.
Machado, a longtime critic of the Venezuelan government who has spent years advocating for free elections and democratic reform, tied her comments to a broader call for the country’s democratization. Her remarks underscore the tension between international efforts to engage economically with Venezuela’s government and the opposition’s insistence that any deal involving the nation’s resources should ultimately serve — and be sanctioned by — its people.
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Source: María Corina Machado rompe el silencio y habla sobre el acuerdo petrolero entre EE. UU. y Venezuela (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Bobjgalindo.