Pope Leo met Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner, Maria Corina Machado, on Monday (January 12), the Vatican said, but did not provide any further details.

The meeting, listed among the pope's appointments for Monday in a daily Vatican statement, had not been included in an earlier advisory to the press about Leo's planned schedule for the day.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, has called for Venezuela to remain an independent country after the capture by U.S. forces of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on the orders of President Donald Trump.

In a major foreign policy speech on Friday (January 9), the pope decried the use of military force as a means of achieving diplomatic goals and called for human rights to be protected in Venezuela.

Machado a former National Assembly member, was barred from running in Venezuela’s 2024 general election by authorities aligned with Maduro.

She backed a stand‑in candidate who was widely considered to have won the vote, although Maduro claimed victory. Ballot audits by independent observers showed irregularities in the official results.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VATICAN CITY (JANUARY 12, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA - Access all)

1. POPE LEO SHAKING HANDS WITH VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER AND NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER, MARIA MACHADO

2. POPE AND MACHADO POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

3. POPE DURING TALKS

4. POPE AND MACHADO DURING TALKS

5. MACHADO DURING TALKS

6. POPE SHAKING HANDS WITH MACHADO