Madrid/María Corina Machado traveled more than 900 kilometers and six states of Venezuela this Sunday, surrounded by thousands of people, until she reached the capital. In Caracas, she was received by a passionate crowd who, with shouts of “freedom” and between vehicle horns, demanded: “Elections now!”, “Welcome”, “I love you, María Corina”.
Dressed in her characteristic white shirt and with several rosaries hanging from her neck, Machado led a caravan of vehicles from which she greeted thousands of people who gathered as she passed along the route that connects the state of Lara, dwhere he appeared in the middle of a masswith Caracas.
The opponent, who left in December of last year for Oslo to receive the Nobel Prize, arrived in the capital after 9:00 p.m., in the middle of a swarm of motorcycles and people and vehicles stationed on the sides of the highway.
“Our unique leader, María Corina Machado, future president of the Republic of Venezuela has just arrived and the people demand elections now”
“Our sole leader, María Corina Machado, future president of the Republic of Venezuela, has just arrived and the people are demanding elections now,” Yraima Paredes, a member of Vente Venezuela (VV), the opposition leader’s party, told the Spanish agency EFE.
Machado did not offer statements to the media during the caravan, but on his way he listened, hugged and greeted people in the streets. After finishing the tour he wrote on his social networks: “We will always remember this day! We are going to finish the task, together.”
VV’s organizational coordinator, Henry Alviarez, told EFE that the opposition member “is happy” because “she is in her land” and “convinced that we must continue advancing towards the path of freedom.” Also a member of the national leadership of Machado’s party, Carlos Alberto Fernández, assured the Spanish agency that the leader returned to “accelerate the transition.”
“Here everyone is demanding presidential elections. Today, all of Venezuela is in the street not only because of the return of María Corina, it is in the street demanding presidential elections next year,” he noted from one of the vehicles in the caravan.
More than 100 kilometers from Caracas, in Aragua, teacher María Rodríguez, 60, told EFE that Machado’s return “is the door to freedom, to new hope.”
Machado’s return comes four days after completing the fourth round of dialogue that the United States is promoting between Chavismo and a sector of the opposition of which she is not a part.
The head of the opposition delegation in the negotiations, Dinorah Figuera, said that the return in “freedom” of the leader is the direct result of the “strength” of the talks and the progress towards obtaining full guarantees for Venezuelans.
Machado surprised everyone by appearing this Sunday at the sanctuary of the Divina Pastora, in Barquisimeto. He had previously announced that he was already in Venezuela, after almost ten months abroad and almost a dozen failed attempts to return. “I am here, with you”, he wrote on his social networks the leader, whose presence in Venezuelan territory was also celebrated by Edmundo González Urrutia, opposition candidate in the controversial 2024 presidential elections.
“Venezuela! I am very excited to announce that our leader, my dear María Corina, is in Venezuelan territory,” said González Urrutia. in your X account. “Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with it to lead and direct this process,” he added.
The leader, exiled in Spain since September 2024, also anticipated his own return to the country: “Very soon I will be with you and her so that our country truly advances towards freedom.” His message concluded with a common slogan of the Venezuelan opposition: “This is until the end.”
The Spanish newspaper ABC reported this Sunday that his return was possible thanks to a diplomatic operation in which several countries participated and which had the knowledge of the United States. The media considers that Washington’s approval was decisive in completing the return and recalls that, two weeks ago, Donald Trump responded that “everything was going to turn out well” when asked about the opposition leader’s return.
“The conditions allowing Ms. Machado’s safe return to Venezuela are a direct result of US-backed reconciliation talks”
Trump, for his part, claimed this Sunday that he was unaware of María Corina Machado’s return to Venezuela. “I don’t know anything about it,” he replied. when asked by the press. He then praised the opposition leader, but again referred to the Nobel Peace Prize that he received from her hands: “She is a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize, so what else can I say? I hope she is safe. She is a very nice woman. But we are doing really well in Venezuela.” During an interview with Fox News this Sunday, Trump also stated that the United States had “total control of Venezuela.”
On the other hand, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, assured that the return of María Corina Machado to Venezuela was due to the mediation work of the United States. “The conditions that allow the safe return of Mrs. Machado to Venezuela are the direct result of the reconciliation talks supported by the United States, which have already made possible the release of hundreds of political prisoners and the return from exile of hundreds of political opposition figures,” he explained in a message on his X social network account.
Rubio also added that “all political actors support these talks, which represent the best opportunity that Venezuela has had in thirty years to achieve, peacefully, not only free and fair elections, but also a lasting democracy.”
The leader clandestinely left the country in December 2025, aboard a ship bound for Curacao, to later travel to Oslo and receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She did not arrive on time for the ceremony, in which she was represented by her daughter Ana Corina Sosa. Until then she had remained hidden for more than a year to avoid being arrested.
Machado’s entourage denounced that his return was being deliberately hindered, while the Venezuelan Government denied any responsibility.
Machado’s return also coincides with a possible cooling of relations between Washington and Chavismo, after the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Psuv), headed by President Delcy Rodríguez, attacked last Wednesday against the arrest warrant issued by a Florida court against Raúl Castro, for the downing of two small planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue in 1996. The party described the measure as an “intimidating maneuver” and ratified its solidarity with the regime. Cuban.
Since his departure, Machado tried to return via different sea, land and air routes, without success. His team reported in September that had made at least seven attempts. The first two occurred in June, after the earthquakes that shook Venezuela, when he tried to travel from the United States and Panama. Two other plans were foiled and their details were not made public.
The last three attempts were concentrated in September, coinciding with the meeting of Delcy Rodríguez and Donald Trump in New York. First, a sea crossing from Panama was organized, but the boat suffered an alleged mechanical breakdown. Subsequently, aerial alternatives were sought, which were also unsuccessful. Bonaire, Aruba and Curaçao denied landing permits requested for a private plane.
Machado’s entourage denounced that his return was being deliberately hindered, while the Venezuelan Government denied any responsibility. The Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, described the attempts to return as a media spectacle and publicly challenged the opponent to return.
The return occurs at a time of tension between Chavismo, Washington and the opposition sectors that demand new elections. Machado recently reported that she had been excluded from negotiations between the Rodríguez government and another opposition faction, although the United States assured that her party had been invited to participate.
Just on Thursday, Thousands of opponents took to the streets to demand presidential elections in 2027 and the return of Machado without the political disqualification that prevented him from running in the 2024 elections.
Its announced presence in Venezuela introduces a new factor in these demands. It remains to be known whether he will be able to freely exercise his political activity, what the reaction of the Rodríguez Government will be and when the return promised by González Urrutia will take place.
