María Corina Machado Returns to Venezuela After More Than 10 Months in Exile

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is back in her country. She announced it on X on Sunday morning, Oct. 25: "I am here. With you."

Edmundo González Urrutia, the former opposition presidential candidate who remains in exile, confirmed it minutes later. "Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!" he wrote. He said he would be at her side "very soon."

The opposition shared images of Machado being greeted by supporters at the Church of Santa Rosa in Lara state. Her team gave no further details on how she got in.

A homecoming after seven failed tries

Machado left Venezuela in December 2025 to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. She had spent the previous 11 months in hiding after being briefly detained following a protest in January 2025.

Her advisers say she tried to re-enter seven times in recent months. The first attempt came in late June, after two powerful earthquakes hit the country. She said the government blocked her by closing its airspace.

She tried again in late September, while acting President Delcy Rodríguez was in New York for the UN General Assembly. Machado was denied entry three times in a single day, her advisers say.

In late August, Omar González, a key member of her inner circle, returned after almost three years in exile. He called it a "prelude" to Machado's own arrival.

The country she returns to

A month after Machado flew to Norway, the U.S. military removed Nicolás Maduro in January. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken to the United States to face federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons offenses. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The Trump administration then backed Rodríguez, Maduro's vice president, who was sworn in as interim president. She later signed an oil deal with the U.S.

Rodríguez has now stayed past the period she was authorized to serve as acting president. No election is scheduled.

The U.S. effort to steer Venezuela toward a democratic transition has involved several high-profile opposition figures. It has excluded Machado and González Urrutia.

Washington's position

Machado and her allies have demanded a date for a presidential election. U.S. officials have said economic stabilization comes first. In September, President Donald Trump said it was "too soon" to consider holding elections in Venezuela.

Trump has also questioned Machado's standing at home. After Maduro's ouster he called her a "very nice woman" but claimed she "does not have the support or the respect within the country" to be leader.

Asked about her return by CNN on Sunday, Trump said he knew nothing about it. "I don't know anything about it, but I think she's a very nice woman," he said. "She gave me her Nobel Prize, so how can I say anything else? And I hope she's safe."

On Thursday, Oct. 22, supporters gathered in Caracas to demand that an election date be set.

The man who ran Venezuela for over a decade is in a U.S. courtroom. But the person now running the country is one of his longtime allies, and the Trump administration picked her.

The administration's stated priority is stability and oil. Machado's stated priority is a vote. Those goals have not been reconciled in any announced timeline.

Machado has hinted she would run for president if an election were held. Trump has said she lacks the support to lead, and no election date exists to test that claim either way.

González has said he will follow her home soon. Rodríguez's government has not said whether it will let him in, or whether it will set a date for a vote.