Machado confirms her return
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado is back in her home country after almost a year in exile, her team confirmed to CBS News on Sunday. In a post on X written in Spanish, Machado said: "I am here. With you." She did not say where she is now or how she re-entered the country.
Her senior adviser, David Smoalnsky, said in a statement to CBS that the return is "a major step toward a democratic transition and free, fair, and verifiable presidential elections in the near future." He said she came back to stand with Venezuelans and to help advance what he described as a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable transition. He thanked President Trump, the U.S. government and others for "their continued leadership and support."
Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Machado's movement who lives in Spain, also confirmed the news on social media. He said he would be by her side "very soon" and wrote that her return was an important day for Venezuelans.
Greeted by supporters in Lara
After word of her arrival spread, Machado was seen at a church in the state of Lara, west of Caracas. The Associated Press reported that dozens of supporters shook her hand and hugged her while holding up cellphones to record the moment.
Onlookers shouted "María! María!" and "Welcome to Venezuela!" according to the AP account included in CBS's report. One man yelled, "Long live freedom, damn it!" One woman wiped away tears and called the return "a miracle."
How she left and why she was away
Machado left Venezuela covertly in December with a private U.S. rescue team so she could accept the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, CBS reported. It was her first public appearance in 11 months. Her government had barred her from leaving the country, and the Venezuelan government considers her a fugitive, accusing her of calling for military intervention against Venezuela.
The Norway event took place a month before the U.S. military deposed then-President Nicolás Maduro. Machado later tried several times to come home, including after the June 24 double earthquakes. In September, Smoalnsky said she was denied entry three times in 24 hours, adding that she had tried to enter by air and sea and been turned away each time.
Reaction from Washington
Asked about the return by reporters on Sunday, President Trump said he knew nothing about it but called Machado "a very nice woman." He added, "She gave me her Nobel Prize," and said he hoped she was safe. He also said, "we're doing really well in Venezuela."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that conditions allowing her return were "the direct result of the U.S. support reconciliation talks." He said the United States expects the freedoms of all sectors of Venezuelan politics to continue to be respected and wants all political actors to support the talks. In his words, they represent "the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years" to peacefully achieve a free and fair election and an enduring democracy.
An uncertain political picture
Machado's homecoming comes as doubts deepen over Venezuela's democratic future and the U.S. role in it, CBS reported. Since Maduro's ouster, the country has been led by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally who received the Trump administration's blessing to succeed him.
According to CBS, Rodríguez has stayed beyond the period she was authorized to serve as acting president, and no election is scheduled. Machado and her allies have demanded an election date, while U.S. officials have stressed economic stabilization first.
