In short
- María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after more than 10 months in exile, writing on X: “I am here. With you.”
- Machado won an independent presidential primary in 2023 with more than 90% of the vote, but Nicolás Maduro’s government barred her from running for office.
- An advisor said in September that Machado had tried seven times to return to Venezuela in the preceding weeks and was denied each time.
- US forces removed Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela in January; he is jailed in New York facing drugs, weapons and torture charges and has pleaded not guilty.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Machado’s safe return was the “direct result” of US-supported reconciliation talks that have freed hundreds of political prisoners.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned home on Sunday after more than 10 months in exile, attending Mass in Lara state before travelling in a caravan to Caracas, where supporters lined the route as she arrived late at night.
How did Machado’s return unfold?
Machado was photographed at a church in Lara state, surrounded by supporters who hugged her and clasped her hands. She then travelled to the capital in a caravan of cheering supporters, leaning out of a car’s sunroof as she entered Caracas late on Sunday night.
What did Machado and her allies say?
“I am here. With you,” Machado wrote on X on Sunday. Her ally, former presidential candidate Edmundo González, said in a statement: “I am thrilled to announce to you that our leader, my dear María Corina, is on Venezuelan soil.” González said he would soon join her in Venezuela to advance the country “toward freedom”. Her spokesman David Smolansky called the return “a major step toward a democratic transition and free, fair, and verifiable presidential elections in the near future”, thanking Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, the US government and Congress.
Why was Machado in exile?
Machado left Venezuela on a speedboat under cover of darkness to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, a month before US forces seized Maduro in January. She had won an independent presidential primary in 2023 with more than 90% of the vote, but Maduro’s government barred her from running for office, accusing her of fraud and tax violations; Machado denied the allegations and called them politically motivated. An advisor said in September that she had tried seven times to return in the preceding weeks and was denied each time, and that there had been reports the US was involved in delaying her return, which it has denied.
What happened to Nicolás Maduro?
The Trump administration backed Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, as leader after his removal, and she was sworn in as interim president before signing an oil deal that granted very favourable terms to the US. Maduro is jailed in New York facing drugs, weapons and torture charges, and has pleaded not guilty. In the 2024 election, González ran in Machado’s place; the electoral authority, closely aligned with the government, declared Maduro the winner without publishing detailed tallies, while the opposition said González won and uploaded copies of the tallies as evidence.
What did Washington say?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the conditions allowing Machado’s safe return were “the direct result of the US supported reconciliation talks which has already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of political opposition figures return from exile”. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he did not know anything about her return and that he hoped she was safe: “I think she’s a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize, so how can I say anything else?” Machado handed the award to Trump at the White House in January; the committee that issues the prize has said it “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others”, and Trump has publicly attacked the Nobel committee’s decisions.
What happens next?
It is unclear what Machado plans to do now that she is back, but she has previously said she would run for president again if an election were held. Her ability to return to Venezuela was contingent on approval from the Trump administration, which appears now to have been granted.
Frequently asked questions
Where is María Corina Machado now?
Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after more than 10 months in exile. She attended Mass at a church in Lara state and then travelled in a caravan to Caracas, arriving late on Sunday night.
Why was María Corina Machado barred from running for president?
Nicolás Maduro’s government barred Machado from holding office after she won an independent presidential primary in 2023 with more than 90% of the vote, accusing her of fraud and tax violations. Machado denied the allegations and called them politically motivated.
Who is leading Venezuela now?
Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy, was sworn in as interim president after the Trump administration backed her as leader following Maduro’s removal from the country by US forces in January.
Did Machado give her Nobel Peace Prize to Donald Trump?
Machado visited the White House in January and gave her Nobel prize award to Trump. The committee that issues the prize has said it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. Church Interior — Matt Bango / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)