Pope Leo XIV met Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner María Corina Machado at the Vatican on Monday, the Holy See confirmed, without releasing details of their private talks.
The meeting was not listed in the pope's earlier public schedule, but appeared later in the Vatican's daily bulletin. It comes amid heightened international tension following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
In a major foreign policy address on Friday, Pope Leo (the first US-born pontiff) warned against using military force to achieve diplomatic goals and stressed that Venezuela's independence and human rights must be respected.
Machado, a former lawmaker, was barred by Maduro-aligned authorities from running in Venezuela's 2024 election. She backed a substitute candidate who opposition groups say won the vote, despite Maduro's claim of victory and evidence of irregularities.