CARACAS, Venezuela — Opposition leader María Corina Machado is back in Venezuela after more than 10 months abroad, greeted by crowds as she traveled to the capital on Sunday.
“I am here. With you,” Machado wrote on X. She attended Mass at a church in Lara state, then headed to Caracas in a caravan of supporters and arrived late Sunday night, BBC News reported.
Machado left Venezuela by speedboat last December to collect the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. A month later US forces seized Nicolás Maduro, who is jailed in New York and has pleaded not guilty. Washington then backed his deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim president.
An adviser said in September that Machado had tried seven times to return and been denied each time. Her ally Edmundo González said she was “on Venezuelan soil” and that he would soon join her.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said her return was a direct result of US-backed reconciliation talks:
President Trump told reporters he did not “know anything about” her return. “I think she’s a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize, so how can I say anything else? And I hope she’s safe,” he said, NPR reported.
Machado has said she would run for president again if an election were held. Washington says Venezuela must first stabilize.
Sources: BBC News, NPR, Marco Rubio on X
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