ROME: Pope Leo XIV met with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, during which the Venezuelan leader asked him to intercede for the release of hundreds of political prisoners held in the Latin American country. The meeting, which hadn’t been previously included in the list of Leo’s planned appointments, was later listed by the Vatican in its daily bulletin, without adding details.

La premio Nobel per la Pace 2025 ricevuta in Vaticano

Leo 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.