María Corina Machado leaned from the sunroof of her vehicle in a white T-shirt and blue jeans as her convoy entered Caracas on Sunday, telling supporters: “this country is giving lessons to everyone”.
Thousands of people crowded the capital’s streets to welcome the 59-year-old opposition leader after more than 10 months in exile. Images and videos posted by her political movement, Vente Venezuela, showed the crowds, while supporters along highways, toll plazas and city streets waved Venezuelan flags and chanted “freedom”.
Machado also sang the national anthem in a Guacara plaza packed with flag-waving supporters. Hundreds of people surrounded her car on the journey to Caracas, where she posted a brief message on X: “Here”.
Machado had announced her return on X on Sunday morning local time. She entered Venezuela from Colombia, according to two anonymous government officials cited by The New York Times.
Her arrival brings a prominent opposition figure back into a country whose election timetable remains unsettled. Delcy Rodríguez, the acting President of the interim Venezuelan government and formerly Nicolás Maduro’s deputy, and US President Donald Trump have both said Venezuela will hold elections. No date has been finalised.
Machado has called for elections by July 2027. A poll by AtlasIntel and Bloomberg found that a majority of Venezuelans want her to be President.
Her path out of Venezuela began after she was briefly detained in January 2025 following a protest against Maduro’s swearing-in. She then went into hiding in Venezuela, sought refuge at the Argentine embassy in Caracas and was smuggled out of the country with assistance from the United States.
Machado emerged in Norway in December 2025 after the clandestine escape. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful challenge to Maduro’s authoritarian government.
She has said Venezuelan authorities repeatedly blocked earlier attempts to return. Machado said travel restrictions and flight cancellations were imposed because of concerns that her return could inflame tensions during the transition.
Edmundo González Urrutia, an opposition politician who ran against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election and is in exile in Spain, said Machado was “on Venezuelan soil”. He said he expected to join her soon to help the country “truly advance towards freedom.”
Three rounds of talks between opposition and interim government figures have ended without a firm election schedule. The third round ended this month.
Rodríguez’s interim presidential appointment could last up to 90 days, with a possible further 90-day extension by the National Assembly, Venezuela’s highest court has said. Her term officially expired in April.
Trump said on Sunday that he had been unaware of Machado’s return. “I think she’s a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize, so how can I say anything else? And I hope she’s safe,” he said. Machado gave Trump her Nobel medal earlier this year.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said the conditions for Machado’s return were “the direct result of the U.S. supported reconciliation talks which has already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of political opposition figures return from exile.”
Comments (0)