How a top State Dept. official "went rogue" over Machado's Venezuela plans

The Trump administration's official position about Venezuela's exiled opposition leader is simple: Don't help Maria Corina Machado gain entry to her home country. But Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau didn't appear to get the memo.

• Landau is suspected of twice miscommunicating U.S. policy to two countries about Machado, according to seven senior administration officials.

Why it matters: Landau's alleged freelancing roiled the State Department for two days and led to internal arguments, international confusion and increased tensions with Machado supporters.

• "There's a widespread belief that Landau went rogue," one of the sources told Axios. "And the evidence supports that belief."
• Said another: "Marco isn't happy" with Landau, who's second only to Marco Rubio at the State Department.

Driving the news: The controversy erupted after the June 24 earthquakes that rocked Venezuela and killed more than 3,500 people. Machado, living in exile in the U.S. without a valid Venezuelan passport, wanted to return to Venezuela to help with relief efforts.

• But administration officials interfered with her travel plans, telling Axios last week that they amounted to "gross political opportunism" that would interfere with recovery and relief efforts.

Between the lines: The criticisms underscored the frayed relations between U.S. officials and Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

• She symbolically gifted her award to President Trump after he authorized the Jan. 3 raid that seized strongman Nicolas Maduro and extradited him to New York to face narco-terrorism charges.
• The U.S. elevated Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to lead the country, which proved deeply unpopular with supporters of Machado, leader of the Venezuelan opposition. They want elections (Maduro stole his in 2024).

The intrigue: Landau, 62, is a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and is the son of a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. He's suspected by senior Trump administration officials of opposing U.S. policy toward Caracas and being too close to Machado's inner circle.

• "He's eerily incapable of saying anything positive about the interim authority [in Venezuela] or negative about Machado," one official said.
• Machado called Landau and several other administration officials the day after the earthquake to say she wanted to return to Venezuela by way of the Dutch-owned island of Curacao.
• "She forum shopped," said another source, "and Landau was happy to help."

Behind the scenes: In a conversation with the Netherlands' ambassador to the U.S., Birgitta Tazelaar, Landau appeared to advocate for Machado's travel to Curacao and then Venezuela, three sources told Axios.

• "This is U.S. policy and it's supported by Secretary Rubio," Landau told Tazelaar, who relayed the conversation to an Axios source.
• Machado planned to stay at U.S. Consul General Ramon Chico's residence in Curacao.
• After the Landau conversation, the Dutch approved Machado's travel to Curacao, a needed permission because she didn't have a valid passport.

The next day, June 25, Tazelaar became concerned that the U.S. didn't want Machado to travel to Curacao. She called the U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Mike Kozak.

• When Kozak told her the U.S. wasn't helping Machado get to Venezuela, Tazelaar said she was "completely confused" because "yesterday, the deputy called and told me the complete opposite," according to an account from an official who was briefed by Kozak.
• The Dutch then reversed permission for Machado's arrival as she was in flight, and her plane returned to Manassas, Va.

While in the air, Machado was shocked to learn of the reversal, called U.S. officials and eventually spoke to Rubio, who reiterated U.S. policy to her.

• Landau insisted to Rubio and others that he hadn't explicitly said the U.S. supported Machado's plans to travel to Venezuela, and that he'd been misunderstood.
• Through a State Department spokesperson, Landau denied misrepresenting U.S. policy. The Dutch declined to comment.

Friction point: Landau then miscommunicated the same sentiment a second time to a second foreign official about Machado's travel.

• This time, it was Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha, who memorialized their conversation about Machado in a text message he sent to Landau.
• "I understand that your country will make arrangements so that this person can enter Venezuela," Martínez-Acha wrote at 9:21 p.m. June 26, the text message shows.
• "Perfect description of our position," Landau wrote back immediately.

Through the department spokesperson, Landau said there was other language in their correspondence in which he said the U.S. was neutral about Machado's travel.

• By Sunday, June 28, Machado was in Panama and tried to fly to Venezuela on Copa Airlines, which declined to carry her when officials in Washington and Caracas voiced displeasure.

U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Cabrera told State Department officials that Landau had called him previously about his concerns that Cabrera had told Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino the U.S. opposed Machado from traveling to Panama.

• Cabrera, the official told Axios, said he simply relayed that the U.S. was neutral about Machado's travel and felt it was "odd" that Landau was "secretly undermining U.S. policy."
• In another conversation about Machado that weekend, Landau yelled at U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to Venezuela John Barrett, three sources said. They said Landau believed Barrett was undermining Machado and made too many favorable statements about the interim government in Caracas.
• "Landau is a yeller. So Barrett got a taste of it," one of the sources said. "Kevin didn't because he's a political [appointee] and he's a Rubio Miami guy. So Landau wouldn't dare yell at him."

What's next: U.S. officials are monitoring Machado in Panama and are bracing for her to enter Colombia to the south, where she could then head east to the border with Venezuela.

• Other U.S. intelligence indicates she plans to travel to Europe.

What they're saying: State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott dismissed reports of any conflict involving Landau.

• "The State Department is in lockstep behind President Trump and Secretary Rubio in advancing the president's foreign policy agenda," he said. "Deputy Secretary Landau is a trusted member of the department's leadership team. Any claims to the contrary are simply false."