Machado returns to Venezuela after 10 months in exile

Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado is back in Venezuela after more than 10 months abroad. She announced her return on X on Sunday, Oct. 25, with the words "I am here. With you". The opposition leader's arrival challenges acting President Delcy Rodríguez. It also challenges the Trump administration, which has worked with Rodríguez since U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January and has kept Machado out of the country's political transition.cbsnews.com+1

First appearance at Mass

Her campaign team said Machado made her first public appearance among worshippers in Lara state, in western Venezuela, where the congregation quickly crowded around her. According to El País, she attended Sunday Mass at the Divina Pastora shrine near Barquisimeto, joined by leaders of her Vente Venezuela party. The same report cited Newsmax as saying she entered the country through Colombia.npr.org+1

Edmundo González Urrutia, who ran against Maduro in the disputed 2024 election and now lives in Spain, confirmed her arrival on X. "Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process," he wrote, adding that he would join her "very soon" (NPR; CBS News). Senior adviser David Smolansky called the return "a major step toward a democratic transition" and thanked President Trump for his support.cbsnews.com+1

Leaving the White House on Sunday afternoon, Trump told reporters he knew nothing about her return. He called her "a very nice woman," noted that she had given him her Nobel Prize, and said, "I hope she's safe".npr.org

Repeated failed attempts

Her advisers say Machado had tried and failed seven times in recent months to get back into Venezuela. In late June, after two earthquakes, she said the government closed its airspace to keep her out. In late September she was turned away three times in a single day. The government considers her a fugitive and accuses her of calling for military intervention against the country.cnn.com+1

A transition without her

Washington has worked with Rodríguez on political and economic reforms, including releasing political prisoners and opening the country to U.S. investment. Trump has also announced a deal giving the U.S. majority control of Venezuelan oil reserves. Rodríguez has stayed in office past the time she was authorized to serve as acting president, and no election has been scheduled. Machado's movement has also been left out of U.S.-backed talks between the government and parts of the opposition.english.aawsat.com+2

Machado and her allies want an election date set, while U.S. officials say the economy must be stabilized first. As Trump put it on Sunday, "we're doing really well in Venezuela".cbsnews.com+1