Return could complicate U.S.-brokered transition talks
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to the country on Sunday, nearly 11 months after she fled by boat to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I am here. With you,” she posted on X on Sunday morning. A video posted by her party showed supporters welcoming her at the Sanctuary of the Divine Shepherdess in Barquisimeto, in central Venezuela.
Machado’s arrival followed at least seven failed attempts to return through Curaçao and Panama. Some of those attempts were thwarted amid opposition from U.S. officials.
Her return could present new challenges for the U.S.-backed interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez and complicate the transition talks brokered by Washington. The talks concluded a third round this week with agreements for incremental reforms but no timetable for a presidential election.
The White House and the State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has backed the transition talks through another opposition leader, Dinorah Figuera. Machado has said she was shut out of those negotiations.
“Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!” wrote Edmundo González, Machado’s close ally, who is in exile in Spain.
Machado’s allies made clear they expect her return to be “a major step toward a democratic transition and free, fair, and verifiable presidential elections in the near future,” said David Smolansky, her senior foreign-policy adviser.