María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s leading opposition figure, returned to her home country on Sunday after nearly a year abroad, stepping back into a political situation reshaped by the U.S. ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
“I’m here. With you all,” Machado wrote on social media, confirming her return publicly for the first time since December. She did not disclose her exact location or say how she got back into the country.
Venezuela remains under acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally whom the Trump administration has continued to back, and no presidential election has been scheduled.
Asked about Machado’s return by reporters in Port Huron, Michigan, President Donald Trump said he had not yet heard the news but voiced hope for her safety.
“I don’t know anything about it, but I think she’s a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she’s safe. She’s a very nice woman. But we’re doing really well in Venezuela.”
Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her peaceful opposition to Maduro’s government.
Fellow opposition leader Edmundo González, who ran for president in 2024 after Machado was barred from seeking office herself, confirmed her arrival and said he would join her “very soon.”
“Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process! You know it, this is until the end.”
A changed political landscape
Machado’s return comes nearly 10 months after U.S. forces captured Maduro in January, ending his long hold on power. Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, has stayed in office with Trump administration backing even though she has exceeded the period she was originally authorized to serve as acting president.
Trump has repeatedly spoken favorably of his administration’s dealings with Rodríguez, pointing to agreements covering Venezuelan oil production and other business arrangements with American companies.
In September, Trump said it was too soon to talk about holding democratic elections in Venezuela, with U.S. officials instead prioritizing economic stabilization. Machado and her allies have pushed back, arguing that a return to democratic governance is essential for the country’s long-term stability and have pressed for an election date.
Her return could complicate the relationship between the Venezuelan opposition, the interim government and Washington. Reuters reported in June that U.S. officials had asked Machado to delay her homecoming.
Machado spent much of 2025 in hiding after being briefly detained following an opposition protest in January of that year. She later left Venezuela in secret and resurfaced in Norway in December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
Separately, a faction of the Venezuelan opposition held another round of talks with Rodríguez’s government this month on reforms to the country’s Supreme Court and electoral authorities ahead of eventual elections, according to Reuters. Machado’s own political movement has not taken part in those negotiations.
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