Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado returns to Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned to her home country on Sunday after nearly a year abroad, following several failed attempts to return that strained her relationship with US President Donald Trump's administration."I'm here. With you all," the Nobel Peace Prize winner wrote on X. Machado appeared at a church in western Lara state, according to images shared by her press team. A Reuters witness said supporters sang the national anthem and shouted "liberty!" as she left in an SUV. Her team said she would travel by road to Caracas. Her close ally, exiled opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, also confirmed her return in a social media post. “Venezuela! I am thrilled to announce to you that our leader, my dear María Corina, is on Venezuelan soil,” he wrote, adding that he would return soon.
Machado left Venezuela covertly in December 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. Since then, she has made several attempts to return, but Venezuelan authorities blocked her entry, according to her party and her advisers. Her return comes amid continuing uncertainty over the country’s political transition following the removal of former president Nicolás Maduro by US forces in January.
Machado's return comes amid uncertainty over her relationship with the Trump administration, which she has sought to cultivate as an ally since before the US removed President Nicolas Maduro from power in January. US officials had asked her at least once to delay her return, Reuters reported in June, and she had made several unsuccessful attempts to enter Venezuela.