Nobel laureate María Corina Machado landed in Caracas on Sunday, greeted by crowds, and on Monday said she is ready to meet interim president Delcy Rodríguez.
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday, 25 October 2026, after almost a year abroad. According to Euronews and Associated Press video reporting, she landed in Caracas and was welcomed by thousands of supporters who gathered along roads, toll booths and streets, waving flags and chanting "Freedom!". It was her first appearance in the country since she slipped out clandestinely last December to receive the Nobel prize, and her party sources say she had tried to come back at least seven times without success.
On Monday, Machado signalled that she is ready to negotiate. Her spokesperson, Claudia Macero, told the local broadcaster Unión Radio that she is willing to sit down not only with interim president Delcy Rodríguez but with whoever is needed, with full transparency and an agenda. Rodríguez, Nicolás Maduro's former vice-president, took over with Washington's backing after Maduro was captured in a US military operation nine months ago. The interim government has promised elections but has not set a date, while Machado's party, Vente Venezuela, is calling for a vote in 2027 in which she would be allowed to run.
The European Union welcomed her return and urged Venezuelan authorities and all political actors to seize the opportunity for an inclusive, Venezuelan-led dialogue leading to free and fair elections, according to foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni. US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he had been unaware of her return and called her "a very nice woman". Her homecoming places the country's most influential opposition figure back at the centre of a turbulent political transition, in a Venezuela that has changed considerably since she left.
