Venezuela opposition leader Machado returns home after fraught year away

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was greeted by thousands of supporters as she made her way to Caracas on Sunday, after she returned home following several failed attempts that strained her ties with the Trump administration.

"This country is giving lessons to everyone," she shouted as her convoy entered the capital, leaning out of the sunroof to shake hands and hug raucous supporters

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, who was prevented from challenging deposed leader Nicolas Maduro for the presidency in 2024, has been out of the country for 10 months and spent the previous year in hiding following the disputed election.

On Sunday morning, Machado appeared at a church in western Lara state and was greeted by bystanders who sang the national anthem and shouted "liberty!" as she left in an SUV, a Reuters witness said.

She then travelled to the capital in a journey that took eight hours because of crowds. By the time she neared Caracas, the highway was all but blocked by cheering supporters. "For the reunion of every family, for freedom of every political prisoner, for the freedom of Venezuela," she wrote on social media.

Machado's return was coordinated with the US, Panamanian and Colombian governments, according to a person briefed directly on her movements, who added Trump approved her return and was kept informed about it.

At the White House on Sunday, Trump said he did not know anything about Machado's return and suggested the US would continue to back Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

"She's a very nice woman," he said, referring to Machado. "But we're doing really well in Venezuela.”

The White House and the State Department did not respond to Reuters questions on the matter.

RETURN PREVIOUSLY DELAYED

Machado's efforts to return have tested her relationship with the Trump administration, which she sought to cultivate as an ally even before it captured Maduro in January and took him to New York for trial.

Trump has repeatedly expressed support for Rodriguez, a former deputy to Maduro, and hailed deals on oil production and other business ventures by US companies in the South American country. Trump said in September it was too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela.

US officials have asked Machado at least once to delay her return, Reuters reported in June, and she has made several failed attempts to enter the country. Her team did not disclose details of how she returned.

Machado travelled in a private plane from Panama to Colombia and crossed overland on Sunday to Venezuela, four people familiar with her trip told Reuters.

One person briefed on her movements said the flight took place late last week and US security contractors guarded her during the journey. Rodriguez and the country's authorities were warned by the US not to interfere or threaten her safety, the person said.

"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," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sunday.

"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."

A faction of the opposition and the interim government held a round of talks this month, with the aim of remaking the top court and electoral council, among other goals, ahead of eventual elections. The talks have not included Machado's political movement.

The Venezuelan Communications Ministry, which handles all press queries for the government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Machado's return.

SUPPORTERS CHEER MACHADO ON ROUTE

"Maria Corina Machado will achieve liberty and democracy in Venezuela," said Hernan Adames, 69, as he celebrated with other supporters in Barquisimeto.

Zuleima Granadillo, 61, an employee at the Ministry of Education, waited for Machado at a point on the highway in Aragua state, closer to Caracas.

"What does Machado’s arrival mean? All paths are opening up for us, the future is opening up, we have a light, and we are going all the way to the end," she said.

"This dictatorship is already over with the arrival of our leader."

Machado plans to meet victims of the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, as well as the families of political prisoners, the international community and various leaders from the democratic movement in Venezuela, David Smolansky, her top foreign affairs adviser, told Reuters.

"She will work proactively for a date for free and fair elections," he added.

International energy firms committed last month to expanding projects in the country in a signing ceremony overseen by Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Machado has said that only a "serious, democratic government" can provide the stability needed by investors.

She had been barred by Maduro's government from exiting Venezuela but she secretly left in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending more than a year living mostly in hiding.

Machado's Vente Venezuela movement released an app on Saturday to ‌collect voter registration information from Venezuelans abroad. The group hopes eventually to share data from the app, which was built by 15 staff over the last 18 months, with a reformed electoral council so users can be officially added to voter rolls.

Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Machado's movement who has been living in Spain, said on X he would soon join her in Venezuela.