Opposition Leader Machado Returns to Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado was greeted by tens of thousands of her supporters as she arrived back in the capital of Caracas after 10 months abroad.“This country is giving lessons to everyone,” Machado shouted as her convoy of cars entered the capital on the night of Oct. 25, surrounded by her supporters.“This day we will remember forever!” Machado posted on X on Oct. 25. “Together we will achieve Freedom.”Machado, who was prevented from challenging Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolás Maduro for the presidency in 2024, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2025 “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”On Jan. 3, U.S. special forces captured Maduro in a surprise military operation and took him back to New York City, where he was arraigned on federal narco-terrorism charges. Machado subsequently offered to share the Nobel Peace Prize with U.S. President Donald Trump.The U.S. president, meanwhile, has repeatedly praised Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, for her cooperation with the United States as the country’s interim leader.Trump met her for the first time in New York City on Sept. 22, and the following day, Rodríguez gave a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, during which she said that Venezuela would transition to “a full democracy.”At the White House on Oct. 25, when asked about Machado’s return, Trump said he did not know anything about it and indicated that he was happy with Rodríguez, who has agreed to a number of lucrative energy deals and other deals with U.S. companies.‘We’re Doing Really Well’: Trump“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump said of Machado. “But we’re doing really well in Venezuela.”In August, Trump said the United States was taking ownership of 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” he wrote on Aug. 28 in a Truth Social post.“This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans.”U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement on Oct. 25 praised the Venezuelan government for following through on its commitments to cooperate with the United States and return to democratic norms.“The conditions allowing for the safe return of Ms. Machado to Venezuela are the direct result of the US-supported reconciliation talks which have already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of political opposition figures return from exile,” Rubio said.“We expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not just a free and fair election but an enduring democracy.”Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gather during the inauguration of a local office of the opposition party Vente Venezuela in Naguanagua, Venezuela, on Oct. 24, 2026. Juan Carlos Hernandez/ReutersBefore her 10 months out of the country, Machado spent nearly a year in hiding in the wake of a disputed election in July 2024, during which opposition candidate Edmundo González won the July 2024 election by a wide margin, based on voting machine records, before the Venezuelan National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner.After Machado and González wrote a letter on Aug. 5, 2024, urging the Venezuelan armed forces to stop suppressing protesters and “respect the voice of the people,” they were accused by Maduro’s Public Ministry of inciting “police and military officials to disobey the laws” and “falsely announcing a winner of the presidential election.”González Plans to Return From SpainGonzález wrote in an Oct. 25 post on X that he would soon return to Venezuela from his self-imposed exile in Spain.Meanwhile, Trump said in July that it is too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela.“As far as the elections in Venezuela, they’re not really ready for them yet, but ​boy, a ​lot of ⁠progress has been made. Delcy’s been doing a fantastic job,” ​Trump told reporters in the ​White ⁠House.During her speech to the United Nations in New York City last month, Rodríguez said her government had initiated talks with the opposition and would guarantee the participation of all political forces in elections, although she did not specify a date for a poll.Reuters contributed to this report.