Nobel laureate Machado returns to Venezuela after months abroad as questions over democracy grow

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado has returned to her country, appearing in public on Sunday for the first time since December. Her arrival comes as doubts deepen over Venezuela's democratic future and over the part the United States is playing in it.

Machado announced she was back on social media, writing: "I am here. With you." Fellow opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez confirmed her arrival on X and said he would join her "very soon." He called it a very important day for Venezuelans and said their "sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process."

On Sunday afternoon, Machado walked into a church in the state of Lara, west of Caracas, where dozens of people applauded, shook her hand and embraced her. Many held up cellphones to record the moment. Voices in the crowd shouted "Welcome to Venezuela!" and "Long live freedom, damn it!" One woman wiped away tears and described the return as "a miracle."

Asked about it by reporters, U.S. President Donald Trump said he knew nothing about the return but called Machado "a very nice woman" and noted that she had given him her Nobel Prize. He added that he hoped she was safe and said things were going "really well" in Venezuela.

Her return follows the January removal of then-president Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military, which captured him in Caracas and flew him to New York to face drug-related charges. Maduro has denied those charges. Venezuela has since been led by interim President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally who had the Trump administration's backing. The country's highest court allowed her to serve as acting president for up to 90 days, with a possible 90-day extension by the National Assembly. The assembly, controlled by the ruling party, never voted for one, yet Rodríguez remains in office and has not called an election. She told the UN General Assembly in September that Venezuelans will decide the "right moment" for a vote.

Machado spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela after being briefly detained following a protest in January 2025. She then left in a clandestine escape and resurfaced in December in Norway, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful challenge to Maduro's authoritarian rule. Her party says she made seven failed attempts to come home. In one, a charter boat operator cancelled the trip, saying the vessel was not fit for navigation. In another, her plane was refused landing permits for Curacao, from where she hoped to take a speedboat.

Opposition activists have accused the Venezuelan government of blocking her return, which authorities deny. Some have also asked whether the Trump administration played a role. U.S. officials say they did not hold her back, though they acknowledge advising her against returning on some occasions because of safety concerns. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month that she has "every right to enter her country whenever she wants to return."

The political dispute reaches back to 2024. Machado won an opposition primary in October 2023 but was barred from running for president. Gonzalez took her place on the ballot, and substantial credible evidence indicated he beat Maduro by more than 2 to 1. The National Electoral Council, filled with ruling-party loyalists, nonetheless declared Maduro the winner. The period around the vote saw widespread repression, including forced disappearances and torture, and more than 2,000 people, poll workers among them, were detained in the days afterward.

Machado and her allies continue to press for a firm date for a presidential election. U.S. officials have stressed that Venezuela should first stabilize its economy and rebuild institutions such as its courts and electoral council. Supporters of Machado had held demonstrations in Caracas calling for her return.