CARACAS. The opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela, the leader herself confirmed on Sunday after almost a year in exile.
Machado, 60, had previously made at least seven attempts to return to Venezuela without success, according to sources in his party.
“I’m here. With you,” Machado wrote in a message on X. His ally and former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia celebrated his return. “Venezuela! I am very excited to announce that our leader, my dear María Corina, is in Venezuelan territory. Today is a very important day for Venezuelans,” he wrote in X.
Machado’s press team confirmed his arrival in the country and his attendance at an event in the Plaza of the town of Santa Rosa, in the city of Barquisimeto, state of Lara, about 400 km from Caracas.
According to the journalist from ABC of Spain, David Alandete, María Corina Machado entered Venezuela through Colombia. It was his second attempt from that country and the ninth since June. “Sources in Washington assure me that the Trump Administration was divided until the last moment. The pressure from Florida legislators was decisive, who warned the White House of the serious political cost of giving the impression of blocking the return of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, especially a few days before the November 3 elections.”
Images of Machado entering the temple of the Divina Pastora began to circulate on networks.
Images of Machado surrounded by followers were released by spokespersons for the leader.
Machado left Venezuela in December 2025 to collect the Nobel Prize, after spending almost a year in hiding and in the midst of the wave of arrests that sparked the controversial re-election of Nicolás Maduro in 2024.
“Very soon I will be with you and with her so that our country truly advances towards freedom. You know, this is until the end,” González Urrutia added in his message.
González Urrutia was Machado’s candidate in the presidential elections held on July 28, 2024 and claims to have won those elections.
Machado returns to the country nine months after the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a United States military operation.
The return of María Corina Machado represents much more than a political movement. For broad sectors of Venezuelan society, his return constitutes a sign of commitment to those who remain within the country facing a prolonged economic, social and institutional crisis. His figure has established himself in recent years as one of the most influential voices of the opposition and as a reference of resistance against the regime of Nicolás Maduro.
