'Woke Pope' Shades Trump Over His Foreign Power Grab

[riversedge]

Source: daily beast


WAR FEVER
The meeting with the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner came ahead of a high-stakes trip to Washington, where Trump is eyeing her award.


Farrah Tomazi Published Jan. 12 2026 12:07PM EST

Pope Leo XIV has thrown more shade at Donald Trump’s global power grabs, holding a private meeting at the Vatican with Venezuela’s opposition leader as he calls for the country to remain independent.

More than one week after U.S. forces captured former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, the pope met on Monday with Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado ahead of her high-stakes trip to Washington, where Trump is eyeing her award.


The Vatican released an image of Pope Leo XIV and Venezuela's opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado after their meeting.



Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/woke-pope-shades-trump-over-his-foreign-power-grab/

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Pope Leo XIV met with Venezuela’s Nobel Peace Prize winner as Trump talks oil, control, and acting like the US “owns” the country. The Pope is talking sovereignty and democracy instead.

Power grab vs. peace.
The contrast says it all.

#USDemocracy
#Pinks

apple.news/ATz2N-qGdQyq...

— Marie 🇨🇦 🐸 (@pawbaby2.bsky.social) 2026-01-12T17:49:32.483Z

[hlthe2b]

1. The Right Pope at the Right Time (i.e., the one we need, not "rightwing" )

I take some comfort from him) --in the global (not religious) sense

[riversedge]

2. AP: Machado seeks Pope Leo's support for Venezuela's transition during Vatican meeting

By GIADA ZAMPANO Updated 10:10 AM CST, January 12, 2026



ROME (AP) — 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.

Machado is touring Europe and the United States after she reemerged in December after 11 months in hiding to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.

“Today I had the blessing and honor of being able to share with His Holiness and express our gratitude for his continued support of what is happening in our country,” Machado said in a statement following the meeting. .......................