Vatican Signals Possible Mediation in Venezuela Crisis (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Could the Vatican mediate in Venezuela? Well, Pope Leo on Monday had a surprise meeting with Maria Karina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner. It comes after Pope Leo has expressed his deep concern about what is going on in Venezuela. Now, Machado says that the pope and her discussed the plight of political prisoners, and releasing political prisoners is the kind of quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomatic work that the Vatican has done in other global crises. And the meeting with Leo and Machado comes ahead of the Venezuelan opposition leader meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, once again signalling that the Vatican is positioning itself as a potential peacemaker and mediator. Now, Pope Leo, of course, is the first American pope, but also someone who has years of experience working in Peru. He knows the plight of the Venezuelan people, having helped with refugees and migrants leaving Venezuela due to the problems in the country. Leo, with this meeting, showing that he wants to use every diplomatic lever at his disposal to try and improve the situation in Venezuela.