He American Secretary of State, Marco Rubiodenied that Washington had any involvement in the difficulties that María Corina Machado faced in returning to Venezuela and stated that the only time it recommended she postpone the trip was after the earthquakes of June 24, when the US priority was to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.
In a telephone press conference this Monday, Rubio assured that Donald Trump’s administration had raised with the Venezuelan authorities weeks ago the need to allow the return of the opposition leader. As he explained, he received guarantees that Machado could enter the country and that this information was transmitted to his team.
“The only time I personally advised her against traveling It was right after the earthquake.. And the reason was very simple: at that time, from a logistical point of view, our only objective was to get as many planes carrying humanitarian aid into the country as possible,” declared the head of US diplomacy.
Rubio maintained that the request to facilitate Machado’s return was presented to the interim authorities headed by Delcy Rodríguez “many weeks ago.” According to her version, the response was that the opponent could return by air if she decided to do so.
“We told them, ‘Look, our expectation is that she is Venezuelan. She belongs to her country. It is the country she comes from. She should be allowed to return.’ They told us she could enter through the airport if she wanted, and we told her team. So she decided to do it now,” he said.
Washington attributes obstacles to Machado’s return to other countries
The official rejected that the United States had intervened in the obstacles that Machado denounced during their previous attempts to return by air and land routes. Instead, he attributed the difficulties to the stance of other countries that, he said, sought to avoid tensions related to Venezuela.
“There were countries that did not want to be involved. They have their own interests when it comes to Venezuela and there were countries that did not want, for one reason or another, to antagonize anyone,” he indicated.
The Secretary of State insisted that Washington had received guarantees that Machado would be able to enter the country without problems and pointed out that, according to the information he had, the leader was able to travel through Venezuela after her arrival.
“But, from our point of view, weeks and weeks ago they told us that she could return and that they would not bother her. And, from what I understand, when she entered yesterday, she was able to move around the country without any setback or problem, not even entering once,” he commented.
Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday, after spending nearly 10 months outside the country. His return occurred after several failed attempts, which his entourage had denounced in the previous months, and coincided with a stage of political talks between the Delcy Rodríguez government and sectors of the opposition.
The leader had left Venezuela in December 2025 to travel to Norway, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, his team defended his right to return and denounced difficulties in completing the trip. Rubio did not identify the countries to which he attributed the obstacles or detail the specific circumstances of each frustrated attempt.
