{"id":894446,"date":"2026-10-25T19:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894446\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T19:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T19:22:12","slug":"venezuelas-opposition-leader-machado-returns-after-months-in-exile-as-doubts-over-democracy-deepen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894446\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela\u2019s opposition leader Machado returns after months in exile, as doubts over democracy deepen"},"content":{"rendered":"

CARACAS, Venezuela \u2014 Opposition leader and Nobel laureate Mar\u00eda Corina Machado reappeared in Venezuela Sunday for the first time since December, returning from exile at a time when doubts about the country\u2019s democratic future \u2014 and the role of the U.S. \u2014 are growing.<\/p>\n

It was her first appearance since the U.S. military deposed<\/a> the country\u2019s then-President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, replacing him with an interim president who has exceeded the time she was authorized to serve<\/a>, with no election scheduled.<\/p>\n

Machado announced her arrival on social media, writing, \u201cI am here. With you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another leading figure in the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, wrote on X confirming that Machado had arrived and that he would be next to her \u201cvery soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!\u201d he wrote. \u201cYou know it, this is until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Venezuela run by Maduro ally backed by the Trump administration<\/p>\n

On Sunday afternoon, Machado strode into a church in the town of Lara, west of Caracas, to the applause of dozens gathered there as they shook her hand and hugged her, with cell phones aloft to record her return.<\/p>\n

\u201cMar\u00eda! Mar\u00eda!\u201d someone cried out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to Venezuela!\u201d another person shouted.<\/p>\n

\"OppositionMachado greets supporters at a church Sunday.APTN <\/p>\n

Asked by reporters Sunday about Machado\u2019s return to Venezuela, U.S. President Donald Trump said, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about it, but I think she\u2019s a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she\u2019s safe. She\u2019s a very nice woman. But we\u2019re doing really well in Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Maduro\u2019s ouster, Venezuela has been run by acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez<\/a>, a longtime Maduro ally who received the Trump administration\u2019s blessing to succeed him.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez was initially supposed to serve only 90 days as acting president<\/a>, but has remained in office and has made no move to call an election.<\/p>\n

Machado was briefly detained in January 2025, following a protest against Maduro\u2019s planned swearing-in ceremony, and went into hiding in Venezuela for 11 months. After making a clandestine escape from the country, she reappeared that December in Norway<\/a>, where she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful challenge to Maduro\u2019s authoritarian government.<\/p>\n

Machado and her allies have been demanding a date for a presidential election in Venezuela, but U.S. officials have emphasized economic stabilization first.<\/p>\n

Credible evidence shows the opposition won the last election<\/p>\n

In October 2023, Machado won an opposition primary and intended to challenge Maduro in the 2024 presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office.<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez took her place on the ballot, and ample credible evidence showed that he defeated Maduro by more than a 2-to-1 margin. But the National Electoral Council, which is stacked with ruling-party loyalists, declared Maduro the winner.<\/p>\n

The lead-up and aftermath of the election were marked by widespread government repression, including forced disappearances, torture and other human rights violations. More than 2,000 people, including poll workers, were detained in the days after the vote.<\/p>\n

In January, the U.S. military captured Maduro in Caracas and whisked him to New York to face drug-related charges, which he has denied. Many Venezuelans were stunned by the Trump administration\u2019s decision to work with Rodr\u00edguez, instead of Machado, to try to revitalize the crisis-racked country.<\/p>\n

\"FederalFederal agents escort Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in New York on Jan. 5.GC via GettyMachado has demanded a date for a presidential election<\/p>\n

Machado had repeatedly vowed to return to Venezuela and, according to her party, she made seven unsuccessful attempts.<\/p>\n

One of the efforts would have seen her take a charter boat, but the operator canceled the trip, alleging the vessel was unfit for navigation. In another attempt, her team said, Machado tried to fly to the Caribbean island of Curacao, from where she could take a speedboat to Venezuela, but her plane was denied landing permits.<\/p>\n

Opposition activists have accused Venezuela\u2019s government of blocking Machado\u2019s return, a claim denied by Venezuelan authorities. Others have also questioned whether the Trump administration has also been involved in the efforts to stop her from returning.<\/p>\n

Trump administration officials deny they are holding Machado back but have said that, on some occasions, they have advised her against returning due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n

After Maduro was deposed, Venezuela\u2019s highest court said Rodr\u00edguez could serve as acting president for up to 90 days \u2014 an interim appointment that could be extended by the National Assembly for an additional 90 days. But the ruling party-controlled assembly never voted to extend her term.<\/p>\n

Machado and her allies have demanded that the Rodr\u00edguez government set a date for a presidential election. Rodr\u00edguez told the U.N. General Assembly in September that Venezuelans will determine the \u201cright moment\u201d for the next election.<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has argued that before holding new elections, Venezuela must stabilize its economy and rebuild its institutions, including its courts and electoral council. But he said in a news conference earlier this month that Machado has \u201cevery right to enter her country whenever she wants to return.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of Machado have held demonstrations in Caracas demanding her return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CARACAS, Venezuela \u2014 Opposition leader and Nobel laureate Mar\u00eda Corina Machado reappeared in Venezuela Sunday for the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-894446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}