In a dramatic development for Venezuela’s fractured opposition, Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado says she is back in the country after spending nearly a year in exile.
“I am here. With you,” Ms Machado wrote in a brief message in Spanish on X.
Edmundo González Urrutia, the exiled presidential candidate allied with Ms Machado, amplified the post and declared: “Venezuela! I am thrilled to announce to you that our leader, my dear Maria Corina, is on Venezuelan soil.”
He framed her reported return as a pivotal moment for the nation’s political future. “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 lived in exile since she secretly departed Venezuela in late 2025 to accept her Nobel Peace Prize.
Her party says she attempted to re-enter the country at least seven times, only to be turned back by Venezuelan authorities.
Her departure came shortly before a sweeping turn of events: the following month, US forces detained Venezuela’s longtime leader Nicolás Maduro and transported him to New York to face criminal charges.
Ms Machado publicly praised US President Donald Trump for ordering the operation, even as Washington permitted Mr Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume power as interim president.
Amid that arrangement, many observers came to suspect the US may have influenced efforts to prevent Ms Machado from returning, pointing to Mr Trump’s repeated expressions of satisfaction with Ms Rodríguez.
