Venezuela opposition leader María Machado returned to her homeland

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado returns to her homeland

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado has returned to her homeland after more than 10 months in exile, reports say. “In Venezuela! Together! For freedom!” Machado wrote on the X social network. She also attached a video to her post showing her greeting supporters surrounding her car. Later, the politician announced that she had arrived in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Machado's advisers said that over the past few months she had tried to return to Venezuela seven times, but failed each time.

Machado's return was agreed upon with the governments of the US, Panama, and Colombia, writes the source. According to the agency's interlocutors, Machado flew from Panama to Colombia on a private plane and crossed the border into Venezuela by land on Sunday. A source familiar with her movements said the flight took place late last week and she was escorted throughout the trip by employees of a US private security agency. According to this source, the US warned the Venezuelan government not to interfere in the process or pose a threat to Machado's safety.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Washington's participation in the negotiations that secured Machado's return.

“The conditions that allowed Ms. Machado to return safely to Venezuela are a direct result of the reconciliation negotiations supported by the United States. Thanks to these negotiations, hundreds of political prisoners have been released and hundreds of political opposition figures have returned from exile... This is the best opportunity for Venezuela in the last 30 years not only to hold free and fair elections, but also to peacefully achieve the building of a sustainable democracy,” he wrote on X.

Machado had been hiding from the Venezuelan government since 2024, fearing persecution due to her opposition activities. Presidential elections were held in the country that year, and Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner.

Having won the opposition primaries, Machado was unable to participate in the presidential race: officials who accused her of administrative violations, supporting international sanctions, and involvement in a corruption scheme banned her from holding public office for 15 years. Machado denied these charges.

At the end of 2025, the opposition figure secretly left Venezuela and went to Norway, where she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was presented to her “for her tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and her struggle for a fair and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

In January 2026, as a result of a military operation, the US arrested Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and took them to New York to stand trial on charges of organizing drug trafficking. They were charged with narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, and weapons possession.

Both pleaded not guilty.

In October, prosecutors brought additional charges against Maduro and Flores for conspiracy to commit torture.

After Maduro was overthrown, the opposition announced its readiness to take power into its own hands. However, the US presidential administration supported Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Donald Trump called Machado a “nice woman,” but noted that it would be very difficult for her to be a leader. “She doesn't have the support and respect inside the country. She's a very nice woman, but she isn't respected,” he said at the time.

As CNN noted, Rodriguez fulfilled almost all the demands of the Trump administration, including releasing hundreds of political prisoners and creating more favorable conditions for US companies to invest in the Venezuelan economy.

In January of that year, Machado visited the White House and presented her Nobel laureate medal to Trump, who had repeatedly expressed his desire to receive the award.

The US president thanked her for “such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.” The Nobel Committee then stated that the award “cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to another person.”