By Gram Slattery and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Friday she was confident the remnants of what she called a "criminal regime" would eventually be dismantled in the South American country and there would be an orderly transition to free elections.
Machado spoke to reporters in Washington a day after meeting President Donald Trump at the White House, where she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to him as she sought to sway him to give the opposition a role in determining Venezuela's future after the U.S. ousted longtime leader Nicolas Maduro.
Trump has backed former Maduro loyalists, led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, to govern the OPEC nation for now instead of Machado, whose movement was widely seen as the winner of a 2024 election that Maduro was accused of having rigged in his favor.
CONFIDENT OF ORDERLY MOVE TO ELECTIONS
Since the January 3 lightning raid that toppled Maduro, Trump has prioritized gaining access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves, not restoring democracy to Venezuela, and made clear he sees the current government as the best bet for maintaining order.
"I am profoundly, profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition (to elections)," Machado told a press conference at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank with close ties to the Trump administration. But she stressed that it was a delicate and complex process that would take time to unfold.
"This has nothing to do with tension or relations between Delcy Rodriguez and myself," she said, but insisted that a "criminal structure" that has dominated Venezuela for years would eventually dismantle itself. She did not elaborate on how this would happen.
Still, Machado had harsh words for Rodriguez, Maduro's former vice president. She branded Venezuela's new leader a "communist," said she was afraid of Trump and controls a "repressive" system, but not the military, making her position unsustainable.
Machado's visit to Washington has done little to clarify any role she may have in the changes under way in Venezuela. She said she insisted in her meeting with Trump on returning to Venezuela as soon as possible, but cited no tangible agreements with the U.S.
There were instead signs that the Trump administration may be deepening its relationship with what remains of Maduro's government.
CIA DIRECTOR MEETS RODRIGUEZ
Coinciding with Machado's White House visit on Thursday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Caracas and met Rodriguez, the highest-level known U.S. visit since the toppling of Maduro and another sign of the two sides jockeying for favor with the Trump administration.
Machado made a point of praising Trump and avoiding any direct criticism of his approach to post-Maduro Venezuela, which has frustrated many in the country's opposition.
Machado handed her Nobel medal to Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, saying he deserved it and that it was recognition of what she called his commitment to the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute said the prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked.
Trump had openly campaigned for the prize before Machado was awarded it last month and complained bitterly when he was snubbed.
He wrote on his Truth Social platform that Machado was a "wonderful woman who has been through so much" and that giving him her medal was "a wonderful gesture of mutual respect." The White House later posted a photo of Trump and Machado with the president holding up a large, gold-colored frame displaying the medal.
SEEKING TRUMP'S FAVOR
Machado's attempt to win Trump's favor in their first face-to-face meeting came after he dismissed the idea of installing her as Venezuela's leader to replace Maduro, who was whisked away to New York to face prosecution on "narco-trafficking" charges.
During the visit, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump stood by his "realistic" assessment that she did not currently have the support needed to lead the country in the short term.
Machado, who fled the South American nation in a daring seaborne escape in December, is competing for Trump's ear with members of Venezuela's government and seeking to ensure she has a role in governing the nation going forward.
Trump has on several occasions praised Rodriguez, who became Venezuela's leader upon Maduro's capture. In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Trump said, "She's been very good to deal with."
Ratcliffe met with Rodriguez at Trump's direction "to deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship," according to a U.S. official.
The two of them discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and the need to ensure Venezuela was no longer a "safe haven for America's adversaries, especially narco-traffickers," according to the U.S. official.
Machado was banned from running in Venezuela's 2024 presidential election by a top court stacked with Maduro allies.
Outside observers widely believe Edmundo Gonzalez, an opposition figure backed by Machado, won by a substantial margin, but Maduro claimed victory and retained power.
In an annual address to lawmakers on Thursday, Rodriguez called for diplomacy with the United States and said that should she need to travel to Washington, she would do so "walking on her feet, not dragged there."
She also said she would propose reforms to her country's oil industry aimed at increasing access for foreign investors.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery, Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Jonathan Allen and Matt Spetalnick; editing by Scott Malone, Rod Nickel)
