Venezuela's opposition leader Machado returns after months in exile

CARACAS, Venezuela, Oct 26, (AP): Opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado reappeared in Venezuela Sunday for the first time since December, returning from exile at a time when doubts about the country's democratic future - and the role of the US - are growing.

It was her first appearance since the US military deposed the country’s then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, replacing him with an interim president who has exceeded the time she was authorized to serve, with no election scheduled.

Machado announced her arrival on social media, writing, "I am here. With you.” Another leading figure in the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo González, wrote on X that he would be at her side "very soon.” "Today is a very important day for Venezuelans," he wrote. "Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!”

On Sunday afternoon, Machado strode into a church in the state of Lara, west of Caracas, shocking dozens who began to applaud as they shook her hand and hugged her, with cellphones aloft to record her return. "María! María!” one person cried, as another shouted, "Welcome to Venezuela!” One woman wiped away tears and called it "a miracle” while another woman’s hands flew to her face as she saw Machado enter the church.

"Long live freedom!” a man yelled. Machado arrived in Caracas late Sunday as thousands of people joined the hours-long caravan or awaited it. "The future of my children is in your hands.

Please!” said a man who teared up as he ran alongside her car. Asked by reporters Sunday about Machado’s return to Venezuela, US President Donald Trump said, "I don’t know anything about it, but I think she’s a very nice woman.

She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she’s safe. She’s a very nice woman. But we’re doing really well in Venezuela.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X Sunday that the conditions allowing for Machado’s safe return "is the direct result of the US supported reconciliation talks."

"The United States expects the freedoms of all sectors of Venezuelan politics to continue to be respected. Likewise, we expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not just a free and fair election but an enduring democracy,” he wrote. Rubio has argued that before holding new elections, Venezuela must stabilize its economy and rebuild its institutions, including its courts and electoral council.