US lawmakers endorse Machado as potential Venezuelan president Despite Trump doubts

On January 20, members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee emerged from a closed-door meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, expressing near-unanimous support for her as a potential future president of Venezuela.

Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and former chairman of the committee, said Machado had “all the right stuff” to lead her country and stressed the need for democratic elections, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

“Now, the next step, obviously: free and fair elections,” McCaul said, adding, “We look forward to working with her.”

Representative Mike Lawler, Republican of New York, echoed those sentiments, saying, “She is exactly the leader to lead Venezuela forward. There needs to be a transition towards a democracy and towards an election, and I think that should happen in short order.”

Representative Brian Mast, Republican of Florida and the committee’s chairman, said he saw no other Venezuelan figure with a greater vision than Machado and emphasised the importance of U.S. involvement in any future Venezuelan election because the stakes are high with the country “in our backyard.”

The hour‑plus meeting concluded with applause audible from the hallway as lawmakers and Machado wrapped up their discussion, multiple sources familiar with the session said.

Republicans and Democrats alike called for prompt, free and fair elections to replace Nicolás Maduro, the long‑time authoritarian leader whose removal earlier this month by U.S. forces has left Venezuela in political limbo. The bipartisan show of support for Machado at the Capitol, following a similar meeting with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 15, underscored mounting pressure on Washington to clarify its position on Venezuela’s future leadership.

But the unified push from lawmakers stands in contrast to Trump’s approach. The president has declined to endorse Machado as a successor to Maduro, once dismissing her as “a very nice woman” who “doesn’t have the respect” necessary to govern and instead indicating a preference for working with Delcy Rodríguez, the interim leader who served as vice president under Maduro.

Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the committee, said Machado was “very clear” that Rodríguez — a controversial figure because of her role in the previous regime — “is not the person that will be galvanising for the Venezuelan people.”

Representative Sydney Kamlager‑Dove, Democrat of California, said Machado was seeking continued U.S. intervention in Venezuela and planned to continue dialogue with Trump to “impart onto him why it is important that there is regime change” and that elections should be held in the coming weeks.

Mast, however, tempered expectations on timing, saying that “in reality, you’re probably talking months” before Venezuelans could go to the polls to elect a new leader.

By Aghakazim Guliyev