Venezuela's Machado says Spanish PM's leftist summit reason for not meeting him


Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures during a press conference, as part of her visit to Spain, in Madrid, Spain, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes

MADRID, April ⁠18 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader ⁠Maria Corina Machado said on ‌Saturday the reason she declined a meeting with Spain's prime minister during ​her visit to ⁠the country was ⁠him hosting a summit of progressive ⁠leaders ‌in Barcelona.

The refusal from Machado, a ⁠right-wing liberal, to meet with the ​leftist ‌coalition government led by Prime ⁠Minister ​Pedro Sanchez contrasts with her many encounters with the country's ⁠right-wing opposition to Sanchez.

"What ​has transpired in the past few hours at the meeting ⁠he held in Barcelona with various political leaders from different countries is proof that ​such a meeting ⁠was not advisable," Machado told ​an event in ‌Madrid.

(Reporting by Corina Pons; ​Writing by David Latona; Editing by Louise Heavens)

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