CARACAS/BARQUISIMETO — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned home on Sunday after nearly a year away, following several failed attempts to return that strained her ties with US President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I’m here. With you all,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner wrote on X.
She appeared at a church in western Lara state, according to images shared by her press team, and was greeted by bystanders who sang the national anthem and shouted “liberty!” as she left in an SUV, a Reuters witness said.
Throughout the day on Sunday, she traveled toward Caracas by road as supporters gathered along her route to cheer her on.
Her return was coordinated with the US, Panamanian and Colombian governments, according to a person briefed directly on Ms. Machado’s movements and plans, who added that Mr. Trump approved her return and was kept informed about it.
At the White House on Sunday, however, Mr. Trump said he did not know anything about Ms. 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 Ms. 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.
MACHADO’S RETURN PREVIOUSLY DELAYED AT US REQUEST
Ms. Machado’s efforts to return have tested her relationship with the Trump administration, which she has sought to cultivate as an ally since before it removed former President Nicolas Maduro from power in January.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed support for Ms. Rodriguez, a former deputy to Mr. Maduro, and hailed deals on oil production and other business ventures by US companies in the South American country. Mr. Trump said in September it was too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela.
US officials have asked Ms. 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.
Ms. Machado traveled in a private plane from Panama to Colombia and crossed overland on Sunday to Venezuela, four people familiar with her movements told Reuters.
The person briefed directly on her movements said the flight took place late last week and she was guarded by US security contractors during her journey. Ms. Rodriguez and the country’s authorities were warned by the US not to interfere or threaten her safety, the person said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sunday, “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.
“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 Ms. 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 Ms. Machado’s return.
SUPPORTERS CHEER MACHADO ON ROUTE TO CARACAS
As Ms. Machado traveled towards the capital on Sunday, thousands of people thronged to the side of the highway, many shouting, “María, we love you,” “welcome” and “freedom.”
“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 Ms. Machado at a point along 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.”
Ms. Machado plans to meet with 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 Ms. Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Ms. Machado has said that only a “serious, democratic government” can provide the stability needed by investors.
She had been barred by Mr. 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.
Ms. Machado’s Vente Venezuela movement debuted 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 Ms. Machado’s movement who has been living in Spain, said on X he would soon join her in Venezuela. — Reuters