Sawt Falasteen - 'I am here': Opposition leader Machado returns to Venezuela

"I am here. With you," Machado announced in Spanish on X.

Video shared by her Vente party showed the leader, in a trademark white tee-shirt and blue jeans, embracing cheering supporters at a church. "Venezuela will be free!" the party said.

Machado's return is likely to heap pressure on interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who has led the country under Washington's watchful eye since US forces ousted longtime leader Nicolas Maduro in January.

A close ally of Machado, exiled opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, reposted her message and said: "Venezuela! I am thrilled to announce to you that our leader, my dear Maria Corina, is on Venezuelan soil."

"Very soon I will be with you all and her so that our country can truly advance toward freedom," he added.

Gonzalez Urrutia stood against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election after Machado was ruled ineligible.

Venezuelan authorities declared Maduro the winner but never shared detailed results, while a tally released by the opposition showed Gonzalez Urrutia winning easily.

Machado, 59, has been in exile since covertly leaving her South American homeland in late 2025 to receive her Nobel Peace Prize.

While based in Panama, she has tried at least seven times to return but has been blocked by Venezuelan authorities, according to her party.

The month after she fled Venezuela, US forces seized Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid and flew him to New York to face criminal charges.

- US intervention -

Machado has repeatedly praised President Donald Trump for launching the risky operation, and even gifted him the Nobel medal she received.

Asked by reporters Sunday about Machado's return, Trump said "I don't know anything about it, but I think she's a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel prize, so how can I say anything else?"

"I hope she's safe. She's a very nice woman. But we're doing very well in Venezuela," he added.

Trump has repeatedly expressed satisfaction with Rodriguez -- who was Maduro's deputy -- as she has acceded to US demands, particularly on granting access to Venezuelan oil.

Rodriguez and her brother, who leads Venezuela's legislature, pushed through reforms to the Venezuelan oil industry and passed an amnesty law earlier this year.

The interim government has held multiple rounds of negotiations with a faction of the opposition, which has led to an agreement to reform the judiciary but not yet set a date for new elections.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Machado's return had been made possible by the Washington-backed talks -- and he urged her to support them going forward.

"We expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not just a free and fair election but an enduring democracy," he said.

Machado has been sidelined from the discussions, but the opposition delegation welcomed her return "in freedom."

- Huge oil reserves -

Last week, thousands demonstrated in Caracas and other cities, demanding her return, carrying signs that read "Elections NOW and this time they're not going to steal from us" and "Brave MCM," referring to Machado's initials.

Many leaders from the Vente Venezuela party have recently returned from exile that was prompted by a post-election repression that left 28 people dead and resulted in more than 2,400 arrests, including dozens of Machado’s associates.

Her party has demanded elections next year and the lifting of the political disqualification that prevented her from running in the last presidential vote.

Venezuela sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves, but its current production of one million barrels of crude per day falls far short of the three million it averaged decades ago, due to years of corruption and poor management.

Rodriguez has granted Washington access to a huge chunk of the country's crude reserves and signed agreements with foreign companies to look for, produce and export oil and gas.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST