Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate, returned home on Sunday (local time) after more than 10 months in exile. She had secretly left the country last December to travel to Norway to accept the . Her reappearance comes at a time when doubts regarding Caracas’ democratic future and the role of the US are mounting.
Machado announced her arrival in a social media post and wrote, “I am here. With you.” According to reports, she appeared at a church in western Lara state and was greeted by bystanders and supporters, who sang the national anthem.
Her appearance on 25 October (Sunday) was the first since the US military deposed the country’s then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, following which Delcy Rodríguez, a former Maduro ally, was appointed as the acting president. She has exceeded the time she was authorised to serve, with no election scheduled. According to AP, she was initially supposed to be the interim president for a period of 90 days but has remained in office since Maduro’s removal in January and has not made any move to call an election.
While Machado and her allies have been demanding a date for a presidential election in the country, Washington has made it clear that it would first focus on economic stabilization. The opposition leader and her allies have also been pressing the acting president’s government to announce a date for the elections. However, in September, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly (), Rodríguez said Venezuelans would decide the “right moment” to hold the vote.
According to Reuters, Machado has called for a vote by July 2027, but elections could still be a year or more away, pending reforms to the courts and electoral authorities to ensure a fair contest.
According to a CNN report, while US President has supported Machado in the past, the administration has sidelined her from the country’s ongoing political transition. Instead, the Trump administration has been working with Maduro’s successor, , to ensure political and economic reforms in the country. The interim president has met almost every demand made by the Trump administration, including releasing hundreds of political prisoners and making it easier for American companies to invest in Caracas. The Rodríguez government also signed a deal with Trump in August, allowing Washington to take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela, a move Machado criticised.
Further, the prospect of an election remains bleak, as Trump has repeatedly said the country is not ready for elections yet, despite significant progress.
(with agency inputs)
