María Corina Machado returned after 10 months abroad as Venezuela faces mounting pressure to establish conditions for a new presidential election.
CARACAS, VENEZUELA — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to the country Sunday after about 10 months abroad, appearing first at a church in western Venezuela before traveling toward Caracas through crowds of supporters demanding political change and a presidential election.
Machado’s Oct. 25 return placed one of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition figures back inside the country during a fragile political transition. No date has been set for a presidential election, and the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez is participating in negotiations over changes to the country’s electoral institutions. Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, has pushed for elections and political guarantees after years of confrontation with the government of former President Nicolás Maduro.
Machado announced her arrival with a brief message on social media: “I am here. With you.” Her first widely reported public appearance came at the Church of Santa Rosa in Lara state, where people surrounded her and sang Venezuela’s national anthem. She later traveled east toward Caracas, passing through towns where supporters gathered along roads and around her convoy. Reuters reported that tens of thousands greeted her as she reached the capital Sunday night.
The return followed several attempts by Machado to reenter Venezuela after she left the country in late 2025. Before leaving, she had spent much of that year in hiding amid pressure from authorities following the disputed 2024 presidential election. Machado had been barred from running in that election, and former diplomat Edmundo González ran with her support. González, who has remained outside Venezuela, confirmed Machado’s return and said he expected to join her in the country.
Venezuela’s political landscape changed sharply in January, when U.S. forces captured Maduro in a military operation and took him to the United States, where he faces criminal charges. Maduro has denied wrongdoing. Rodríguez, who had served as Maduro’s vice president, became the country’s acting leader. Since then, her government and some opposition figures have taken part in U.S.-backed talks aimed at rebuilding political institutions and preparing conditions for eventual elections.
Machado’s return immediately raised questions about how Rodríguez’s government would respond. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Washington had told Venezuelan authorities weeks earlier that Machado, as a Venezuelan citizen, should be allowed to return without interference. Rubio said the interim authorities had indicated that she would be free to enter. His comments came after President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had not known in advance about Machado’s arrival and expressed hope that she would remain safe.
The U.S. government has said a credible election will require more than setting a voting date. Rubio said Venezuela needs changes to its electoral system as well as stronger courts, political freedoms and access to independent media. He said the country’s electoral infrastructure must be replaced or substantially reformed before voters return to the polls. Venezuelan authorities and opposition representatives have discussed a framework for electoral changes, but no presidential election date has been announced.
Machado has spent years as one of the most visible opponents of Venezuela’s socialist governments. Her movement gained renewed influence during the 2024 campaign after she won an opposition primary but was prevented from appearing on the presidential ballot. González replaced her as the opposition candidate. The opposition challenged the official result declaring Maduro the winner, while the government defended the outcome. The dispute helped drive a new wave of demonstrations, arrests and international pressure.
Her reappearance could also alter negotiations over Venezuela’s transition. Machado’s political movement has not been at the center of the talks involving Rodríguez’s government and other opposition representatives. After returning, however, Machado said Monday that she was prepared to meet Rodríguez. Such a meeting would bring together two figures who represent sharply different sides of Venezuela’s political struggle, although no meeting had been confirmed.
For Machado, returning also carried personal and political risks after years of confrontation with Venezuelan authorities. She had spent months in hiding before leaving Venezuela and later surfaced in Norway in connection with the Nobel Peace Prize. Her journey back was kept largely out of public view until her appearance in Lara. Reports differed on some details of how she crossed into the country, and Machado’s team did not publicly disclose the full route.
Machado is now back in Venezuela as negotiations over electoral rules continue and pressure builds for a timetable toward national voting. Rodríguez remains in charge of the interim government, while U.S. officials say political freedoms and credible institutions must be established before an election. Machado’s return adds another major political actor to that unsettled process, but the timing and conditions of Venezuela’s next presidential vote remain unresolved.
Author note: Last updated October 28, 2026.