Recommended
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado claimed on Thursday that during her meeting at the White House with U.S. President Donald Trump, she "presented" him with the Nobel Peace Prize medal she won last year, implying that she offered it to him.
"I presented the Nobel Peace Prize medal to the U.S. President," Machado told the media outside the Capitol in Washington, without clarifying whether she gave the insignia to Trump or if he kept it.
Machado says she told the president an anecdote involving the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer who enlisted in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and Simón Bolívar, the great hero of independence for Venezuela and other South American countries.
The Venezuelan politician recounted that "200 years ago," Lafayette gave Bolívar a medal featuring the portrait of George Washington, the commander of the American independence forces and later the country's first president.
"Bolívar kept that medal for the rest of his life. In fact, when you look at his portraits, you can see the medal," the opposition leader explained.
"Lafayette gave it to him as a symbol of brotherhood between the people of the U.S. and the people of Venezuela in the fight against tyranny, and 200 years later, the people of Bolívar are returning a medal to the leader of Washington, in this case, the Nobel Peace Prize medal, as recognition of his special commitment to our freedom," Machado added.
The activist and politician, who had already dedicated the Nobel to Trump when she received it, stated last week that she "certainly wants to give it to him and share it with him," to which the Norwegian Nobel Institute explained that a Nobel Prize cannot be transferred to third parties.
Trump, who has shown interest in the Nobel Prize on numerous occasions, often insists that he has put an end to eight international conflicts and that this award should be granted based on the number of wars resolved.
"I can't think of anyone in history who deserves the Nobel Prize more than me, and I don't want to brag, but no one else has solved wars," Trump said last week in response to the press.
Regarding her meeting with Trump, Machado asserted that the Republican, who has chosen to recognize an opposition-led government for Venezuela in favor of one led by Chavistas, is fully "committed to the freedom of the political prisoners of Venezuela and all Venezuelans" following the deposition of Nicolás Maduro by Washington.
[Publicidad]