Nobel laureate Machado: ‘Illegitimate’ Venezuela regime has no right to strike US oil deal

<p>Opposition leader says interim government lacking democratic mandate to negotiate on natural resources</p><p>The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has questioned Donald Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela’s interim government, saying the country’s natural resources do not belong to “an illegitimate regime”.</p><p>In her first public comments since <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/28/trump-venezuela-oil-agreement">Trump announced</a> what he called “the biggest oil deal in world history” with Venezuela last Friday, Machado walked a diplomatic tightrope between challenging the agreement and trying not to rile the White House.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/03/venezuelan-opposition-leader-questions-us-oil-deal-with-illegitimate-regime">Continue reading...</a>