Opposition leader Machado announces return to Venezuela

Updated / Sunday, 25 Oct 2026 17:32 Getty A demonstrator shows a sign depicting opposition leader Maria Corina Machado during a march in Caracas last month Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado has said she returned to her home country after nearly a year in exile.

"I am here. With you," Ms Machado wrote in a short post in Spanish on X. Her ally, exiled presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, reposted the message and said: "Venezuela!

I am thrilled to announce to you that our leader, my dear Maria Corina, is on Venezuelan soil." "Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process! Very soon I will be with you and with her so that our country truly advances toward freedom," he added.

Ms Machado has been in exile since covertly leaving Venezuela in late 2025 to receive her Nobel Peace Prize. According to Ms Machado's party, she has tried at least seven times to return but has been blocked by Venezuelan authorities. The month after she fled Venezuela, US forces seized the country's longtime leader Nicolás Maduro and flew him to New York to face criminal charges.

Ms Machado has heaped praise on US President Donald Trump for launching the operation, though the US has allowed Mr Maduro's deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, to rule as interim president. Many observers believed the US played a role in blocking Ms Machado's return, given Mr Trump's repeated expressions of satisfaction with Ms Rodríguez.