Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado has returned to Venezuela after roughly 10 months in exile, her team confirmed to CBS News on Sunday. Machado announced the homecoming herself in a short post on X that read, in Spanish, “I am here. With you,” according to CBS News and NPR.
Machado did not say where she crossed into the country or how she got there, CBS News reported. Her campaign told NPR that her first public appearance came at the Church of Santa Rosa in Lara state, in western Venezuela, where she was quickly surrounded by worshippers. The Associated Press, as cited by CBS News, described supporters shaking her hand and hugging her, with phones raised to record the moment, while some in the crowd shouted “Welcome to Venezuela!”
🇻🇪 María Corina Machado returns to Venezuela after 10 months in exile
This is her first time back since December, when she left for Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize and was unable to return. pic.twitter.com/2FFEk3l0kI
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 25, 2026
Trump: “I hope she’s safe”
President Trump was asked about the return as he left the White House on Sunday, NPR reported. “I don’t know anything about it, but I think she’s a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she’s safe,” Trump said, according to CBS News. He added, “We’re doing really well in Venezuela,” CBS News and NPR reported.
Machado’s senior adviser, David Smolansky, called the return “a major step toward a democratic transition and free, fair, and verifiable presidential elections in the near future,” according to CBS News. CBS News reported that Smolansky also thanked President Trump and the U.S. government for “their continued leadership and support.”
A long road home
Machado had been trying to get back for months. In September, she was denied entry three times over 24 hours, attempting to enter by air and by sea, Smolansky said in a statement at the time, according to CBS News.
She left Venezuela in December with help from a private U.S. rescue team to accept the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, CBS News reported. That was about a month before U.S. forces captured then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, according to NPR. CBS News reported that the Venezuelan government still considers Machado a fugitive and accuses her of calling for military intervention against the country.
Before her exit, NPR reported, Machado went into hiding in January 2025 after being briefly detained following a protest, and she later reappeared in Norway in December to accept the prize.
What comes next
Her return sets up a direct challenge to acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally who took over after Maduro’s capture, NPR reported. CBS News reported that Rodríguez has stayed in the role beyond the time she was authorized to serve as acting president and that no presidential election has been scheduled.
Machado and her allies have been pressing for an election date, while U.S. officials have emphasized stabilizing Venezuela’s economy first, according to CBS News. NPR reported that Washington has said the country must stabilize before elections are held.
Former opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who is in exile in Spain, celebrated the news on X. “Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!” he wrote, according to CNN. González said he expects to join Machado in Venezuela soon, CNN and NPR reported.
For now, Machado has not laid out her next public steps, and her exact location beyond the Lara appearance has not been disclosed, according to CBS News.
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- Original post: Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) on X, Oct 25, 2026
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