Venezuelan Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado Returns Home After Ten Months in Exile

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has returned to her country after spending more than 10 months in exile. She announced her arrival on social media on Sunday with a short message: "I am here. With you."

Edmundo Gonzalez, the current opposition leader, confirmed the news in a post on X. He wrote that "our leader, my dear Maria Corina, is on Venezuelan soil." The political organisation Comando Con Venezuela published footage showing Machado arriving at a church in Lara, where supporters welcomed her.

Machado vanished from public view after a brief arrest in January 2025. She resurfaced last December in Norway, where she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to challenge President Nicolas Maduro. In January 2026, the United States military abducted Maduro from Caracas.

Since then, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has served as acting president with the endorsement of US President Donald Trump. Her government has cooperated with his administration on reforms, and on a deal that would give the United States control of oil reserves said to total more than 65 billion barrels.

Rodriguez has remained in office well beyond the 90 days she was authorised to serve after Maduro's removal. She has not called an election, despite public demand and a promise to do so at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The United States maintains that the country is not yet ready. Earlier this week, thousands of Venezuelans marched to demand a vote, in the first nationwide opposition protest in nearly two years.

The opposition is widely believed to have won the disputed 2024 elections. Even so, Trump has questioned Machado's ability to lead. In January he claimed she "doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country." Weeks later, Machado visited him at the White House and gave him her Nobel medal, which she described as "a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom." Trump has repeatedly said he wants to receive the Nobel Peace Prize himself.

Machado had tried and failed to enter Venezuela before. Her team said in September that she had made seven attempts over a span of a few weeks.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that the conditions for her safe return were "the direct result of the U.S. supported reconciliation talks." He added that those talks had already led to the release of hundreds of political prisoners and the return of hundreds of opposition figures from exile.

Asked about the return on Sunday, Trump told reporters, "I don't know anything about it, but I think she's a very nice woman." He added: "She gave me her Nobel Prize, so how can I say anything else? And I hope she's safe."