Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado plans to return to Venezuela as soon as possible. She secretly left the country in the fall of 2025.
Bloomberg writes about this, citing sources.
According to the agencyʼs interlocutors, several American officials warned Machado that her return could provoke a clash with the current Venezuelan authorities and distract attention from rescue efforts after the powerful earthquakes that occurred on June 25 and have already claimed the lives of more than 1 400 people.
Meanwhile, other representatives of the US Presidential Administration support Machadoʼs intention to return to her homeland. However, according to Bloomberg, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other American officials have been asking Machado to wait for several months, as her early return could destabilize the political situation in the country.
Bloomberg notes that Machadoʼs return to Venezuela will be a test for the countryʼs interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez.
If it allows Machado to return and join the disaster relief efforts, it could be seen as a step toward political reconciliation. If not, the government could be accused of restricting the oppositionʼs activities during a national disaster.
Following the earthquakes, the current Venezuelan government has already accepted humanitarian aid from the United States and several other countries. At the same time, the opposition accuses the government of hindering independent volunteers and centralizing all humanitarian aid through state structures.
Maria Corina Machado, who has been abroad since leaving Venezuela last year, said in a video message after the earthquakes that she would return to the country "very, very soon".
Why did the Venezuelan opposition leader end up abroad?
Maria Corina Machado was a member of the Venezuelan parliament, advocating for democratic elections, the rule of law, and human rights.
Before the 2024 presidential election, Machado was the main opposition candidate, but the regime of Nicolás Maduro blocked her from participating in the election. After that, she supported another opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and also became one of the leaders of the protest against the Maduro government.
Then the Maduro government began a large-scale repression of political opponents, forcing many into hiding. Machado hid inside the country for almost a year, and in the fall of 2025 she secretly left the country.
In October 2025, the Nobel Committee awarded Machado the Peace Prize for her “tireless work to advance the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people” and “her struggle for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”. The US President Donald Trump had been counting on this award.
After the award was presented, Maduroʼs associates demanded through the courts to strip opposition politicians, including Machado, of their citizenship, accusing them of "disloyalty to the country".
In January 2026, the US conducted an operation in Venezuela and removed Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the country — both were charged with narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, illegal possession of machine guns and explosives, and conspiracy against the US.
Machado stated that the opposition was ready to take power in Venezuela, but Trump said that it would be difficult for her to become the countryʼs leader because she allegedly lacked support within Venezuela. At that time, the Venezuelan Supreme Court appointed Delcy Rodriguez as the interim head of state.
Although the media wrote that Trump did not support Machado because she did not give him the Nobel Prize. Later, Machado still gave her Peace Prize medal to Trump. Although the Nobel Committee noted that the award cannot be canceled, transferred or shared with another person.
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