María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela after more than 10 months in exile

What happened on 25 October

Machado announced the return on social media with the words "I am here. With you." She appeared at the Sanctuary of the Divine Shepherdess church in Barquisimeto, in western Lara state, where supporters greeted her with applause and chants of freedom. She had left Venezuela in December 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.

Reuters reported that she flew from Panama to Colombia on a private aircraft and crossed into Venezuela by land, citing two people familiar with her trip. Her team said she was travelling towards Caracas by road, stopping to meet supporters along the way. One person familiar with the trip told Reuters it was coordinated with US, Panamanian and Colombian authorities and that Trump had been informed. Asked about her arrival on 25 October, Trump told reporters he had no prior knowledge of it and said: "I hope she's safe." Vision Times reported that she later travelled to Caracas, where large crowds gathered to welcome her home.

Why the return matters

Her arrival came days after thousands of Venezuelans demonstrated across the country demanding an election, the first nationwide opposition protests in almost two years.

Venezuela has been led by interim president Delcy Rodríguez since January, after she was sworn in days after Maduro's seizure. She has said elections will be held but has not set a date. Machado wants a vote by July 2027. In October the PUD coalition reaffirmed Machado as its leader. It adopted 14 proposals for a transition, including freedom for political parties and the release of all political prisoners.

The ban and the talks she is not in

Machado remains barred from standing for office, a ban imposed under the Maduro government.

Negotiations between Rodríguez's government and an opposition faction have included proposals to reform the courts and the electoral authority, and Machado's movement has not taken part. Rubio has attributed her return to Washington-supported reconciliation talks, which he said had released hundreds of political prisoners and allowed opposition figures back from exile.

Washington's position

US forces seized Maduro in Caracas on 3 January 2026 and took him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges, which he denies. Trump backed Rodríguez, Maduro's former vice-president, to run the country afterwards.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in September, Rodríguez said "there will be elections in Venezuela" but did not specify a date. The opposition criticised her for not setting even a tentative one. Trump told the same assembly that the US had struck "the largest oil deal in history covering 65bn barrels of oil" with her government. He added that "if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interest of the United States". The two leaders briefly met on the sidelines of the assembly. Rubio, who attended that meeting, said a political transition had to come first. He warned against a scenario where "someone is elected, and they inherit a complete catastrophe, economic and social".

What happens next

Rubio met Venezuelan foreign minister Oliver Blanco in Washington. The meeting came two weeks after Venezuelan authorities and opposition figures agreed a blueprint to reform the electoral process, with a vote possible at some point in 2027.

The State Department said they discussed institutional reforms that lay the groundwork for free, fair and credible elections. Rubio also urged the release of Venezuela's remaining political prisoners. Edmundo González, who stood in for Machado on the 2024 ballot, confirmed her return and said he intended to join her in Venezuela.