Venezuelan opposition leader Machado returns home after exile

María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize winner, is back in her home country, ending an exile that started in December, PBS NewsHour and BBC News reported Sunday. The BBC said she had been abroad for more than 10 months.

Machado posted a brief message on X on Sunday letting supporters know she had arrived. She then appeared at a church in Lara, where people greeted her with applause, hugs and handshakes and filmed her on their phones. The Associated Press report carried by PBS NewsHour called Lara a town west of Caracas, while BBC News described it as a state.

Edmundo González, the ally who stood as the opposition candidate in 2024 after Machado was disqualified, confirmed she was in Venezuela and said he planned to join her shortly, according to both outlets.

This is her first time in the country since January, when U.S. troops seized then-President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and flew him to New York. BBC News said he is jailed there on drugs, weapons and torture charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's former deputy, has since governed as acting president with support from the Trump administration. According to PBS NewsHour, her mandate was set at 90 days, lawmakers never extended it, and no election date has been set.

People around Machado say she made seven failed attempts to get back. PBS NewsHour reported that opposition activists blame Venezuela's government for blocking her, an accusation officials reject. Both outlets mentioned suspicions that Washington also had a hand in the delays. U.S. officials deny this, but PBS NewsHour said they have acknowledged cautioning her at times not to go back because of safety risks.

Trump, questioned by reporters, said he was unaware of her return. "She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she's safe," he said, as quoted by both outlets. BBC News noted she handed him the medal at the White House in January.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a post on X, attributed her safe return to reconciliation talks backed by the U.S., saying they had led to the release of hundreds of political prisoners, BBC News reported. He described the talks as "the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years" for free elections and lasting democracy. PBS NewsHour reported that Rubio has said Venezuela needs economic stability and rebuilt institutions before voting again.

David Smolansky, speaking for Machado, described the homecoming as an important move toward democratic change and expressed gratitude to U.S. leaders, BBC News reported. The BBC said it is not clear what she will do now, although she has previously indicated she would be a presidential candidate if a vote takes place. The government barred her from the 2024 race despite her win in a 2023 opposition primary.

Compiled by True News from reporting by PBS NewsHour and BBC News. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/451