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Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returns after nearly ten months abroad

Opposition figure María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after a decade-long absence, reappearing at a public event in a church in Lara state.

25 October 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

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Archive photo: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returns after nearly ten months abroad — Archive photoPhoto: U.S. Department of State · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after nearly ten months away and several failed previous attempts. Her reappearance took place at the Divina Pastora sanctuary in Barquisimeto, in Lara state, one of the country's principal centres of religious pilgrimage. Machado confirmed her return via a social media message stating: "I am here. With you." Opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia publicly confirmed the news.

González Urrutia described Machado's return as a very important day for Venezuelans. Early images released showed the opposition figure greeting supporters at the church. Machado, 60, had left the country to receive the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, marking a milestone in her efforts to return home.

Donald Trump expressed hope that Machado would be safe in Venezuela and described her as "a very nice woman." The US president recalled that the opposition leader had given him her Nobel Prize medal. Trump said he had no prior information about the return, though he claimed conditions in the country are going well for his administration.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, according to reports, that "the conditions enabling Machado's return are the result of conversations supported by the United States." This statement linked the opposition leader's return to American diplomatic efforts regarding Venezuela's political situation.

Machado's return represents a political challenge to chavismo, which views her as its primary adversary. Her public reappearance on Venezuelan soil occurs amid political changes in the country, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro according to a source.

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