Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado reappeared in Venezuela on Sunday (October 25) for the first time since December, the Associated Press reported. She announced her arrival on social media, writing: "I am here. With you."
Source: Associated Press via NPR / WEKU, Oct 25
Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez confirmed her arrival in a post on X, saying he would be next to her "very soon". "Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!" he wrote, adding: "You know it, this is until the end." Those are Gonzalez's own words in his post, reported here as his statement.
Source: Associated Press via NPR / WEKU, Oct 25
Social media posts by Machado's Comando ConVzla campaign on Sunday showed her moving through crowds of supporters and taking part in a religious service, with supporters celebrating her homecoming after more than 10 months in exile.
Return after hiding, exile and the Nobel Prize
Machado went into hiding in Venezuela for 11 months after being briefly detained following a protest in January 2025, AP reported. After leaving the country in a clandestine escape, she reappeared that December in Norway, where she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful challenge to Nicolas Maduro's authoritarian government. Her party has previously said she made seven failed attempts to return before Sunday.
No election date, and questions over the transition
Machado's homecoming took place as doubts over Venezuela's democratic future — and the United States' role in it — deepen, AP said. Since Maduro's ouster, Venezuela has been run by acting President Delcy Rodriguez, a longtime Maduro ally who received the Trump administration's blessing to succeed him.
Rodriguez has exceeded the time she was authorized to serve as acting president following Maduro's capture and no election is scheduled, AP reported. Machado and her allies have been demanding a date for a presidential election in Venezuela, but U.S. officials have emphasized economic stabilization first.
A second AP syndication of the same report, published the same day, carried the same account of Machado's announcement and Gonzalez's confirmation.