US to share biometric data with Chile 'to track criminals,' Homeland Security's Noem says

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The United States will deploy biometric technologies in partnership with Chile to control migration and disrupt criminal networks, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday during a visit to the South American nation.

“This arrangement is going to serve as a bridge to help Chile and the United States work towards bringing criminals to justice and knowing who is in our countries perpetuating crimes,” Noem said while signing the preliminary agreement with Chile's Security Minister Luis Cordero and Justice Minister Jaime Gajardo.

“This increased cooperation between our countries is extremely important to track criminals, terrorists and dangerous individuals,” she added from the capital of Santiago, while nearby thousands of residents heeded tsunami warnings to evacuate along the the country’s Pacific coast.

The plan comes as the Trump administration seeks to bolster regional cooperation in its clampdown against transnational criminal groups, including Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the White House.

The bilateral agreement allows Chilean officials to identify potentially dangerous migrants entering or exiting the country and share their biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris scans, with the Department of Homeland Security to prevent their travel to the U.S.

"That information will be incredibly important as we go after these criminal activities," Noem said, praising past cooperation between the countries' intelligence agencies.

Tren de Aragua has wreaked havoc across once-peaceful Chile in recent years — smuggling undocumented migrants across borders, running prostitution rings, trafficking drugs and terrorizing the population with grisly crimes.

But Chilean authorities have fought back, bringing a number of gang members to trial in recent months. After spreading across Latin America on the heels of illegal migration, Tren de Aragua infiltrated the U.S. and inflamed domestic politics.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Chile most recently teamed up to disrupt South American criminal networks allegedly responsible for a string of burglaries targeting the multimillion-dollar homes of high-profile celebrities and professional athletes in the U.S. and Europe. The suspects, among them Chilean nationals, are now facing charges in Florida.

Chilean security agents stand with their sniffer dogs during a a security demonstration related to TSA screening and a Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (BITMAP) at the Arturo Merino BenÌtez International Airport, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Santiago, Chile, before the departure of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem poses for photos with a member of the Chilean special operations police (GOPE) as she departs Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, second from right, meets with Chilean Minister of Public Security Luis Cordero, left, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Jaime Gajardo and acting Attorney General Hector Barros at the Security Ministry in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, left, and Chile's Minister of Public Security Luis Cordero sign a letter of intent for a Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (BITMAP) at the Security Ministry in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. At right is Chilean Minister of Justice and Human Rights Jaime Gajardo. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds a test strip before scanning it for traces of explosive material as she attends a security demonstration related to TSA screening and a Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (BITMAP) at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport before departing Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was at the White House on Thursday discussing her country's future with President Donald Trump even after he publicly 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. His administration has signaled its willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and, along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, remains in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela and 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 was expecting a positive discussion during the lunchtime meeting and called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela.

The White House said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

Leavitt said Trump is committed to seeing Venezuela hold elections “one day,” but wouldn’t say when that might happen.

Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate later Thursday. Trump has called her “a nice woman” while indicating they might not touch on major issues in their talks Thursday.

Her Washington swing 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.

The White House says Venezuela has been fully cooperating with the Trump administration since Maduro’s ouster.

Rodríguez, the acting president, herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move thought to have been made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, 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. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump wanted to win himself. She has since thanked Trump. Her offer to share the peace prize 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.

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)