Chris Landau, the State Department's second-ranking official, stands accused of repeatedly freelancing on Venezuela policy in ways that directly contradicted the Trump administration's stated position, triggering internal chaos and diplomatic confusion that lasted days.
The controversy centers on Maria Corina Machado, the exiled Venezuelan opposition leader, who sought to return home after devastating earthquakes killed more than 3,500 people in late June. The White House position was clear: don't facilitate her entry. Landau apparently didn't comply.
According to seven senior administration officials, Landau twice conveyed unauthorized messages to foreign governments suggesting the U.S. would support or remain neutral about Machado's travel plans. The first incident involved telling the Netherlands' ambassador to the U.S., Birgitta Tazelaar, that facilitating Machado's passage through Curacao was "U.S. policy" backed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Dutch then granted Machado permission to enter, allowing her plane to take off. Hours later, the State Department reversed course, leaving Machado mid-flight before her plane turned around.
Days later, Landau sent a text message to Panama's Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha saying "Perfect description of our position" in response to the minister's statement that the U.S. would "make arrangements" for Machado to enter Venezuela. That exchange helped convince Panamanian officials the U.S. backed the plan, even as Washington was actively working to prevent it.
The 62-year-old deputy secretary, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and son of a former ambassador to Venezuela, denied deliberately misrepresenting policy. He claimed he was misunderstood and that other language in his correspondence indicated U.S. neutrality. A State Department spokesperson echoed that defense.
Yet officials paint a portrait of someone deeply out of step with administration goals. One described Landau as "eerily incapable of saying anything positive about the interim authority" in Caracas or "negative about Machado." Another said Machado "forum shopped" and "Landau was happy to help." A third noted that U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Cabrera found it "odd" that Landau was "secretly undermining U.S. policy."
The tension boiled over in at least one heated conversation. Landau yelled at the U.S. chargé d'affaires to Venezuela, John Barrett, accusing him of undermining Machado and making favorable statements about Venezuela's interim government. One official noted that Landau spared such treatment for Cabrera, a political appointee with ties to Rubio's Miami network.
The machinations ultimately prevented Machado from reaching Venezuela through both routes she attempted. A Copa Airlines flight from Panama turned back when U.S. and Caracas officials registered opposition. As of reporting, Machado was in Panama with intelligence suggesting she may head to Europe or attempt entry through Colombia.
Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had symbolically awarded the honor to President Trump after the extradition of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro in January, was effectively shut down by the very administration she thought she'd been supporting. The reversal reflects fractured U.S. relations with the opposition leader and deeper questions about control within the State Department's top ranks.
Author James Rodriguez: "Landau's texted 'Perfect description' to the Panamanian minister is the smoking gun here, not the denials that followed."
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