By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump indicated on Thursday that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was coming to Washington next week.
During an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” program, Trump was asked if he plans to meet with Machado following U.S. strikes on Venezuela that resulted in the capture of its president Nicolas Maduro.
“Well, I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump responded.
The White House did not immediately respond when reached for additional details on the meeting.
This will be Trump’s first meeting with Machado, who said earlier this week that she hadn’t spoken to the U.S. leader since she won the Nobel Peace Prize in October.
The future governance of the South American country remains in doubt. Trump over the weekend dismissed the idea of working with Machado, saying “she doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
Trump told Fox News that it will take time for the South American country, currently led by interim acting President Delcy Rodriguez, to get to a place where it can hold elections.
“We have to rebuild the country. They couldn’t have an election,” he said. “They wouldn’t even know how to have an election right now.”
Venezuela, an OPEC member, is one of the biggest producers of oil. Its industry has become focal point of the Trump administration with a senior official telling Reuters that oil sales to the United States will start immediately with an initial shipment of approximately 30 million to 50 million barrels and will continue indefinitely.
Trump said he will meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday. Those oil companies, according to the president, will play a key role in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil industry.
“They’re going to rebuild the whole oil infrastructure. They’re going to spend at least $100 billion and it’s an unbelievable oil that they have, and an unbelievable quality of oil and amount of oil,” he said.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
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