CARACAS, Venezuela — Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after 10 months outside the country, NPR reported.
Machado first appeared at the Church of Santa Rosa in Lara state, where worshippers crowded around her, then traveled to Caracas, where hundreds of supporters surrounded her car. “Here,” she posted on arrival.
Her return poses a challenge to interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who took over after U.S. forces captured former leader Nicolás Maduro in January. Machado has called for prompt elections, but the Trump administration, which has repeatedly sidelined her, says Venezuela must stabilize first.
Machado went into hiding in early 2025, later fled the country and reappeared in Norway in December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. Exiled opposition figure Edmundo González called her return “a very important day for Venezuelans.”
Sources: NPR. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Wilfredor / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
