CARACAS, October 26 (Aalimi Nation) – Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has returned to the country after about ten months in exile, adding pressure on the interim government to name a date for a presidential election.
Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, announced her arrival in a social media post that read, "I am here. With you." Supporters shared video of her being greeted at a church in Lara state on Sunday, October 25. She later travelled to Caracas, where she posted a video saying, "Finally, Caracas, I'm here!!"
Machado's return to Venezuela: what is known
Machado left Venezuela in secret in December to collect her Nobel prize in Norway, a month before US forces removed Nicolás Maduro from power. Authorities under Maduro had barred her from travelling abroad, and the Venezuelan government has treated her as a fugitive, accusing her of calling for military intervention.
Edmundo González, the former presidential candidate allied with her movement, who lives in Spain, welcomed her arrival. "Our leader, my dear Maria Corina, is on Venezuelan soil," he wrote. He said he would join her "very soon."
A senior adviser to Machado described the return as "a major step toward a democratic transition and free, fair, and verifiable presidential elections in the near future."
Washington's position
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the conditions that allowed her return were "the direct result of the U.S. supported reconciliation talks." He said the talks had seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of opposition figures return from exile, and that Washington expects all political actors to back the process.
President Donald Trump, asked about the return, said he did not know anything about it but added, "I think she's a very nice woman."
Why the timing matters
Delcy Rodríguez has led Venezuela as acting president since January, with the backing of the Trump administration. Her authorised time in office has run past the 90-day period initially set, and no election has been scheduled. She promised elections at the United Nations General Assembly in September but has not named a date. US officials have said they want the economy and institutions, including the courts and the electoral council, stabilised first.
Pressure from the street has grown. On October 22, thousands of people marched in Caracas in what was described as the first nationwide opposition protest in nearly two years, demanding free elections. The opposition is widely believed to have won the disputed 2024 presidential vote.
Machado and González were not part of the reconciliation process, which has involved other opposition figures. One analyst said that until there is institutional change or institutional space for the democratic opposition, her return is "a symbolic gesture."
