MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Nearly 50 survivors of a migrant boat tragedy last month that left 25 people dead in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar arrived back in Somalia on Saturday and were received by government officials.
The survivors aged 17 to 50 wore outfits made of fabric with the Somali national flag colors as they disembarked from a plane in the capital, Mogadishu, visibly relieved to return to safety.
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EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Bodies of migrants who were washed away after two boats capsized are seen on the shore of the Madagascar coast in the Indian Ocean, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Bebel Betombo)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
A survivor of the boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrives at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Many young Somalis embark every year on dangerous journeys in search of better opportunities abroad. The U.N. agency has previously raised concerns over the rise in irregular migration from Horn of Africa countries as people flee from conflict and drought.
The survivors told The Associated Press that they were stranded in the ocean for 13 days after their boat's engines failed.
Ahmed Hussein, who was traveling with his now-deceased cousin, said they were heading to Europe hoping for a better life. Two vessels carrying the migrants departed Somalia early last month.
“We were split into two small boats. The engine broke down, and we drifted at sea for 13 days with no functioning engine. We had no food or water, and the (few) dates we had ran out during those 13 days. We survived by catching some fish,” he said.
Officials in Madagascar and Somalia had earlier said the boats capsized but offered no further explanation. The authorities had also put the number of survivors at 48 but only 47 arrived in Somalia and the whereabouts of one survivor remained unclear as officials who received the 47 did not comment.
The boats left from a beach near the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Nov. 2 with 73 people on board and were believed to be headed to the French region of Mayotte, according to Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina, the head of Madagascar’s Maritime Ports Agency. Mayotte, an archipelago, is around 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) from Mogadishu.
Abdirashid Ibrahim, another survivor, recalled how some survivors had swollen ankles and couldn’t walk after being rescued. “On the boat, we had nowhere to sleep, no food, and we were crammed together. Some people died from shock, and others succumbed to starvation,” he told the AP.
Abdulkadir Burgal, the director of the Africa Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was at the airport to receive the survivors, told journalists that some of the people who helped the migrants embark on the dangerous journey had been arrested while others died in the incident.
“Eight people involved in the trafficking of Somali migrants have been arrested,” he said.
Maryan Yasin, the president's special envoy for migration, said the survivors were happy to be home.
“They assured me they will never take the same risk again. The Somali government is committed to finding a resolution, and this resolution will be a collective effort,” she said.
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Bodies of migrants who were washed away after two boats capsized are seen on the shore of the Madagascar coast in the Indian Ocean, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Bebel Betombo)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
A survivor of the boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrives at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Survivors of a boat tragedy that killed dozens of Somali migrants off the coast of Madagascar arrive at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.
In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."
After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.
It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.
Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
