As millions of Venezuelans wait to see what will become of their economically and politically ravaged country, a battle has emerged between two female leaders for control over the nation’s future – and for the American president’s favor.
On one side is opposition leader and Nobel Prize laureate María Corina Machado, who rose to prominence in recent years for her dogged fight for democracy in Venezuela, facing down now-ousted former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
She has mostly stayed in hiding after Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election, after which government-controlled electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner – allowing him to cling to power until his capture by US special forces…