The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, returned to Venezuela this Sunday after about a year of being out of the country and after at least seven failed attempts.
““I am here, with you”said the opponent in a message on her social networks.
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Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and direct this process! Very soon I will be with you and with her so that our country truly advances towards freedom
Edmundo gonzález urrutiaVenezuelan opponent
The return of the opposition leader was also confirmed by Edmundo González Urrutia, considered by the opposition and, as the electoral records prove, the legitimate Venezuelan president.
“I am very excited to announce that our leader, my dear Maria Corina, is in Venezuelan territory. Today is a very important day for Venezuelans,” González Urrutia said on his X account, in a message in which he also announced his intention to return to the neighboring country.
I’m here. with you
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) October 25, 2026
“Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and direct this process! Very soon I will be with you and with her so that our country truly advances towards freedom. You know, this is until the end,” González Urrutia added.
A different Venezuela
When she left, in December of last year, for Oslo to receive the Nobel Prize, the opposition leader undertook a journey by land, sea and air that also took her around the world to spread the message of desire for democratization in Venezuela. At that time, the dictator Nicolás Maduro still held power in the country.
Now, Machado returns to a Venezuela very different from the one he left clandestinely to avoid the capture of the Chavista regime.
The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado. Photo:Mauricio Moreno / EL TIEMPO
After the capture of Maduro on January 3, the country is now under the command of Delcy Rodríguez and under strong pressure from the United States, which has promoted a series of economic and oil opening reforms.
Also, progress has been made in terms of democratic restoration, but these have not been carried out as quickly and complaints from human rights organizations persist.
A return in the midst of social demand
His return also coincided with the days of mobilizations that were held this Thursday throughout the country. These mobilizations were called by Vente Venezuela (VV), a party led by Machado herself, to demand an electoral schedule and presidential elections for 2027.
“Go with your children, take your family, carry your flag, with your head held high, convinced that this depends on each one of us. Because Venezuela is going to be free. Let the whole world see it,” Machado said in a video shared on his X account in which he called on citizens to take to the streets.
“In 2027 we have to have a presidential election. We are going to elect María Corina Machado as the next president of Venezuela and we are organizing for that,” VV political activist Carlos Fernández anticipated at the beginning of the week during a press conference.
María Corina Machado called for protests this Thursday. Photo:
Likewise, the arrival of the Venezuelan opposition leader occurs shortly after the end of the third cycle of negotiations between Chavismo and an opposition sector. The dialogues are led by Dinorah Figuera, president of the National Assembly in 2015.
The agreements reached in these conversations consisted of political and civil guarantees, as well as progress towards the renewal of the Supreme Court, but for now no concrete progress has been made in the appointment of a National Electoral Council nor in a fixed calendar of general elections.
However, in an interview with the newspaper El Nacional (GDA), Figuera assured that the elections could be at the end of 2027 or at the beginning of 2028.
Venezuela! I am very excited to announce that our leader, my dear Maria Corina, is in Venezuelan territory. Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and direct this process! Very soon I will be with you and with her so that our country truly advances towards freedom. You know, this is until the end.
— Edmundo González (@EdmundoGU) October 25, 2026
Machado’s last interview before returning to Venezuela
Days before learning about her return to her native country, María Corina Machado spoke with EL TIEMPO and the Grupo de Diarios América (to which this Editorial House belongs) and insisted on her desire to return to Venezuela to promote a “great national agreement” for the democratic transition.
“Venezuela is a united countrymore than ever in its history. (…) It is a country in which we all want the same thing. We want to build a safe nationfree, democratic, prosperous, to which our children can return. And this is such a powerful force. Here in Panama and from all over the world, Venezuelans write to me and tell me: Let’s go back together. And that’s what I’m working for,” he said in conversation with Andrés Mompotes, director of EL TIEMPO.
Interview with María Corina Machado. Photo:
In the interview, Machado insisted on the fears that persist in Chavismo about his return and even stated that the regime was making efforts “by all possible means” to try to prevent his return.
“The regime knows that it is in a precarious situation, like never before. The chaos that exists in Venezuela economically, in terms of security, in terms of public services. A nation that has the largest proven reserves of oil and is the eighth largest reservoir of natural gas, but where Venezuelans have up to 12 hours a day without light, without electricity,” denounced the opposition leader, who added that this situation has generated “a growing feeling of urgency, of repudiation” towards the regime.
“Venezuelans, obviously, are determined that all these forces be channeled in a civic manner to achieve a transition,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Chavismo, headed by Delcy Rodríguez, has not yet commented on the matter.
