Venezuela Opposition Leader María Corina Machado Returns Home After Nearly a Year Abroad; Trump Says He Knew Nothing of It
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado said on social media early on Sunday, October 25, that she has returned to Venezuela after nearly a year outside the country, Reuters reported. "I'm here. With you all," she wrote. Her press team shared images of her in the central-western state of Lara, at the Plaza del Pueblo de Santa Rosa in Santa Rosa, where she appeared at a church. Machado did not disclose more details about her current location or how she returned.
Machado plans to meet with victims of the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, as well as the families of political prisoners, the international community and various leaders from the democratic movement, her top foreign affairs adviser David Smolansky told Reuters. "She will work proactively for a date for free and fair elections," he added. Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Machado's movement who has been living in Spain, confirmed her return in his own post and said he would soon join her.
Machado had been barred by the government of Nicolás Maduro from exiting Venezuela, but secretly left in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after spending more than a year living mostly in hiding. Since the United States removed Maduro from power in January, President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed support for interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's former deputy, and hailed deals on oil production and other business ventures by U.S. companies; in September Trump said it was too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela. Reuters reported in June that U.S. officials had asked Machado to delay her return, a source of friction in Washington.
Speaking at the White House on Sunday, Trump said he did not know anything about Machado's return and suggested the United States would continue to back Rodriguez. "She's a very nice woman," he said of Machado. "But we're doing really well in Venezuela." In a Fox News interview the same day, Trump also said the U.S. had "total control of Venezuela," adding: "We're being very fair, but we're taking out millions of barrels of oil a week." Neither the White House nor the Venezuelan communications ministry immediately responded to requests for comment on her return.
A faction of the opposition and the interim government held their latest round of talks this month, aimed at remaking the top court and electoral council ahead of eventual elections, but Machado's political movement is not part of them. International energy firms committed last month to expanding projects in the country at a signing ceremony overseen by Rodriguez and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, while Machado has said only a "serious, democratic government" can provide the stability investors need. In June, after twin earthquakes killed at least 6,500 people and left thousands missing, she said she would do whatever it took to come home and help the survivors.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: María Corina Machado（右）2026年1月15日在白宫椭圆形办公室与特朗普总统会面时留影（资料图）。图：白宫官方照片，公共领域，经维基共享资源
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