By Muhammad Mamman
Former United States President Donald Trump withdrew his backing for Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado after she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize instead of lobbying for it to be awarded to him, The Washington Post has reported.
According to the newspaper’s account, Trump’s interest in supporting the Venezuelan opposition waned sharply once Machado declined to intervene on his behalf regarding the prestigious international award. The report suggests that Trump believed Machado should have used her influence to steer the Norwegian Nobel Committee towards recognising him instead.
Machado, a key figure in Venezuela’s pro-democracy movement, received the Nobel Peace Prize for her role in advocating non-violent political change in a country grappling with economic collapse, authoritarian rule, and mass migration.
Sources cited by The Washington Post say Trump’s dissatisfaction with her decision led to a cooling of relations between the former US administration and the Venezuelan opposition figures who had sought American political and diplomatic support.
Neither Trump nor Machado has publicly responded to the report.
