ع
Tens of thousands of supporters lined the route as María Corina Machado traveled by car from the western state of Lara to Caracas on October 25 according to Reuters reporting that described an eight-hour journey filled with crowds chanting her name waving flags and playing music. The opposition leader attended mass at a church in Barquisimeto where worshippers hugged her and applauded her surprise appearance a Reuters witness said. Machado posted on X that she had arrived writing “I am here. With you” while her ally Edmundo González Urrutia confirmed her return on social media stating that their sovereign voice had come back to lead the process.
Machado had left Venezuela in December 2025 by speedboat to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo and spent more than 10 months in exile during which she made at least eight failed attempts to re-enter the country a BBC assessment found. The Trump administration had previously indicated that the time was not right for her return according to people familiar with the discussions cited by the Washington Post. Her homecoming comes after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January 2026 and installed his former vice president Delcy Rodríguez as interim leader with Washington’s backing AP News reported.
President Donald Trump told reporters he did not know about Machado’s return but described her as a very nice woman adding she gave me her Nobel Prize so how can I say anything else and I hope she’s safe but we’re doing really well in Venezuela. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the conditions allowing for the safe return of Ms Machado to Venezuela is 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. A person briefed on her movements told Reuters that Machado’s return was coordinated with the US Panamanian and Colombian governments and that Trump had approved it.
The Trump administration recently signed a major oil deal with Venezuela granting the US a 100-year concession over 65 billion barrels of crude according to the BBC which noted the agreement was reached with a Venezuelan private company run by businessman Alejandro Betancourt. Rodríguez has remained in power beyond her initially authorised term with no election date set yet deepening doubts about the democratic transition a Washington Post dispatch noted. Machado who enjoys a 61 percent positive rating in the latest AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg News leads Rodríguez 52 percent to 19 percent in a hypothetical presidential vote that poll showed.
Machado’s team has indicated she will press for free and fair presidential elections possibly as soon as 2027 to replace the current interim arrangement according to a senior adviser cited by the Washington Post. David Smolansky an aide to Machado said in a statement that her return was a major step toward a democratic transition and free fair and verifiable presidential elections in the near future. Supporters greeted her caravan with rosaries and emotional appeals one man telling her the future of my children is in your hands please as he ran alongside her vehicle Reuters reported.
The return places Machado in a delicate position as she seeks to mobilise her base without disrupting US-supported talks between the Rodríguez government and other opposition factions that exclude her Vente Venezuela movement a Reuters analysis found. Those negotiations have focused on reviewing laws on political disqualifications parties and public demonstrations according to participants. Machado has previously said she would run for president again if an election were called and her arrival has sparked fresh protests in several cities calling for a vote date Bloomberg News reported.
