By Kejal Vyas

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday urged her compatriots to maintain hope while vowing to fight for democracy in the country after a senior Trump envoy cut a deal with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to facilitate U.S. deportations.

The surprise visit to Caracas by U.S. special envoy Richard Grenell on Friday stoked concerns in Venezuela's opposition, which has long counted on U.S. support. Venezuela's government widely circulated photos of Grenell smiling and shaking hands with Maduro, triggering speculation that the U.S. could abandon its longstanding strategy of bringing democratic change to instead work with Venezuelan officials on the deportation of Venezuelan migrants as Trump has promised.

"Obviously it's a terrible image, one that no one wants to see," Machado said in a news conference.

Machado said she spoke with Grenell before and during his one-day trip to Caracas to emphasize her position that the Venezuelan regime, which has been accused of human rights violations, election-rigging and economic mismanagement that led to an exodus of migrants, remains a threat to the security of the U.S. and the rest of the hemisphere.

"I can assure you that that is clearly understood in this administration, " she added, characterizing her discussions with Grenell as frank.

Machado spoke to reporters in a livestream from an undisclosed location. The 57-year-old political activist has been hiding in Venezuela to avoid arrest since leading a grassroots effort to show how Maduro stole the July presidential election. Maduro claims that he won but hasn't published voting data that the regime was required by law to make public.

Since the election, the Venezuelan government has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown, arresting more than 2,000 people and pushing opposition activists into exile. Some 15 American citizens were also detained in the country since the election on charges of terrorism and espionage, which rights groups say underscores Maduro's strategy of using hostages as leverage in diplomatic negotiations.

Grenell returned to the U.S. Friday night with six of the 15 American prisoners and said that Venezuela agreed to receive deportation flights from the U.S. Maduro had suspended flights early last year after negotiations with the Biden administration fell apart. As part of the new deal, Grenell said, Venezuela would assume the costs of the deportations.

Maduro called the meeting with Grenell positive and said his government was willing to engage in more negotiations.

Over the weekend, the regime received more good news when a special license that the U.S. Treasury had granted Chevron and other oil companies to operate in Venezuela was renewed for six months. Maduro's foes have said the projects generate revenue that allows the regime to remain afloat.

U.S. officials say that they aren't making any deals to benefit Maduro. Instead, they say their priority is to ensure the return of Venezuelan migrants and criminals from a transnational gang called the Tren de Aragua.

More than 600,000 Venezuelans live in the U.S. under a program called temporary protected status, which is granted to people who arrived from countries mired in natural disaster and political upheaval. On Monday, the U.S. officially revoked the protected status for many of those Venezuelan migrants, leaving them open to deportation in the coming months.

Machado, long allied with Florida Republican lawmakers, said she would petition U.S. congressional leaders to find another way to ensure Venezuelans aren't shipped back to the country. At the same time, she said the opposition would work with governments in the region that deem Maduro illegitimate.

"It is absolutely indispensable that we get rid of this regime," Machado said. "This is a country that is held hostage by men in balaclavas. This is an existential and spiritual struggle."

Write to Kejal Vyas at kejal.vyas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2025 15:41 ET (20:41 GMT)

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