Opposition leader María Corina Machado returns to Venezuela after months in exile, as doubts over democracy deepen

After nearly 10 months in exile, Ms. Machado, the Nobel laureate and leader of Venezuela’s opposition, returned to challenge leaders that have sidelined her and press for new elections. CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado reappeared in Venezuela Sunday for the first time since December, returning from exile at a time when doubts about the country's democratic future — and the role of…

It was her first appearance since the U.S. military deposed the country’s then-President Nicolás Maduro, replacing him with an interim president who has exceeded the time she was authorized to serve, with no election scheduled. Machado announced her arrival on social media, writing, “I am here.

With you.” Another leading figure in the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo González, wrote on X confirming that Machado had arrived and that he would be next to her “very soon.” “Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!” he wrote. “You know it, this is until the end.” Venezuela run by Maduro ally backed by the Trump administration On Sunday afternoon, Machado strode into a church in the town of Lara, west of Caracas, to the applause of dozens gathered there as they shook her hand and hugged her, with cell phones aloft to record her return.

“Welcome to Venezuela!” another person shouted. Asked by reporters Sunday about Machado’s return to Venezuela, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “I don’t know anything about it, but I think she’s a very nice woman.

But we’re doing really well in Venezuela.” Since Maduro’s ouster, Venezuela has been run by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally who received the Trump administration’s blessing to succeed him. Rodríguez was initially supposed to serve only 90 days as acting president, but has remained in office and has made no move to call an election. Machado was briefly detained in January 2025, following a protest against Maduro’s planned swearing-in ceremony, and went into hiding in Venezuela for 11 months.

After making a clandestine escape from the country, she reappeared that December in Norway, where she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful challenge to Maduro’s authoritarian government. Machado and her allies have been demanding a date for a presidential election in Venezuela, but U.S.