Panama City/The private flight that was supposed to take Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado out of Panama on Tuesday, as part of an itinerary to return to Venezuela, “did not even take off” because three islands in the Dutch Caribbean – Bonaire, Aruba and Curacao – did not grant landing permission, a person familiar with the situation who requested anonymity told the EFE agency.
“They had three points, supposedly, one way: Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba and they were also negotiating with Trinidad and Tobago, but they all denied permission (…) You have to ask for permission from both Aeronautica (Panamanian) and the destination country, those are permits that can take from a day to just hours,” explained the informant.
The last attempt, towards Curacao, took place on Tuesday between three and four in the afternoon, local time, the source added.
When Machado left Venezuela in December 2025, through a clandestine operation to travel to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, he did so by sea to Curacao.
The islands of Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba are located in the Caribbean, a short distance from the Venezuelan coast. Aruba, the closest, is less than 30 kilometers away, while Bonaire, the furthest, is a hundred kilometers away, making them possible passage points to access the territory of Venezuela.
When Machado left Venezuela in December 2025, through a clandestine operation to travel to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, he did so by sea to Curacao, from where he continued his journey to Norway.
EFE consulted the Civil Aeronautical Authority of Panama to find out its version of what happened, but the organization responded that it “has no interference” in the matter.
The private flight was scheduled to depart on Tuesday from a small auxiliary airport located in Panama City, where, according to the informant, Machado arrived without attracting attention, maintaining the same discreet profile that he has had since he was in the Central American country.
The opposition leader’s team assured on Tuesday that Machado has tried to return to Venezuela from Panama three times this week and that on all of those occasions he has been prevented.
“She has been prevented from flying from Panama. She remains there without being able to leave,” the former deputy’s team reported to EFE.
On June 29, Machado released a video in which he claimed to be in Panama after seeing his intention to return to Venezuela frustrated.
With these three new attempts, there are now “at least seven” times that Machado has tried to return to his country, his team told the agency.
On June 29, Machado released a video in which he claimed to be in Panama after seeing his intention to return to Venezuela frustrated after the powerful double earthquake that devastated the country’s central Caribbean coast on the 24th of that month, leaving thousands dead and missing.
In that video, the opposition leader denounced that the Venezuelan Government had closed commercial airspace to prevent her return to the country from the Panamanian capital.
Since the recording was released, Machado has only made one public appearance in Panama, on July 5, during a mass officiated by the metropolitan archbishop, José Domingo Ulloa, dedicated to the victims of the double earthquake.
The opposition leader spent more than a year in hiding to avoid being arrested, until her departure from Venezuela in December 2025.
