Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, center, greets supporters in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Sunday, October 25, 2026.
Jesus Hernandez/AP
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Jesus Hernandez/AP
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado has returned to Venezuela after ten months abroad, announcing her arrival in a social media post.
In a post on X, Machado said: “I’m here with you all.”
Machado made her first public appearance among worshipers at the Santa Rosa church in Venezuela’s western Lara state, where she was quickly surrounded by an ecstatic congregation. She then traveled to Caracas, where hundreds of enthusiastic supporters crowded her car. “Here,” she tweeted upon her arrival in the capital.
His return poses a challenge for interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who took over after former leader Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces in January.
The Trump administration has repeatedly sidelined Machado, despite his prominence in the opposition. She has called for elections to be held soon, but Washington says Venezuela must first stabilize.
In January 2025, Machado went into hiding in Venezuela after being briefly detained following a protest. Later that year, she left the country in a clandestine escape and reappeared in December in Norway, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful challenge to Maduro’s authoritarian government.
Opponent Edmundo González, who ran against Maduro in the disputed 2024 presidential election, confirmed Machado’s return in an article on X, describing it as “a very important day for Venezuelans.”
He wrote: “Our sovereign voice returns with it to direct and guide this process. » González Urrutia, currently in exile in Spain, also declared that he planned to join Machado soon so that the country could “really move towards freedom”, concluding: “You know, it’s all the way to the end.”
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on Sunday afternoon, President Trump said he knew nothing of Machado’s return, describing her as “a very nice woman” and adding that she gave him her Nobel Prize.
“And I hope she is safe,” he said, adding that “we are doing very well in Venezuela.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement saying Machado’s return was a “direct result” of U.S.-backed reconciliation talks.
“The United States expects that the freedoms of all sectors of Venezuelan politics will continue to be respected,” he wrote. “Similarly, we expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not only free and fair elections, but also a lasting democracy.”
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