María Corina Machado returns to Venezuela after 10 months in exile; Rubio says her return is the 'direct result' of US-backed talks

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday 25 October after more than 10 months abroad, and entered Caracas late that night in a convoy of supporters, the BBC and AFP reported.

“I am here. With you,” Machado wrote on X. She was first seen attending Mass at a church in Lara state, then travelled by road to the capital. Her ally Edmundo González confirmed her arrival in a statement. Sources in her party told AFP she had made at least seven unsuccessful attempts to return since leaving the country in December 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

What Washington said

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X at 5:51pm GMT on Sunday that “the conditions allowing for the safe return of Ms. Machado to Venezuela is the direct result of the U.S. supported reconciliation talks”, which he said had already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of opposition figures return from exile.

“The United States expects the freedoms of all sectors of Venezuelan politics to continue to be respected,” Rubio wrote, adding: “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.”

Asked about her return on Sunday, President Donald Trump said: “I don’t know anything about” it, and added that he hoped she was safe, the BBC reported.

Other reactions

On Monday, Machado’s spokesperson Claudia Macero told Unión Radio that Machado was willing to sit down “not only with Delcy (Rodríguez), but with whoever she has to sit down with”, AFP reported. Infobae described the response from the governing camp as a mix of silence, calls for dialogue and threats. EU foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni said the EU trusted that “all political actors will seize this opportunity” to advance an inclusive dialogue towards free and fair elections.

Rodríguez became interim president after US forces seized Nicolás Maduro in January 2026. Maduro is held in New York, where he has pleaded not guilty to drugs, weapons and torture charges. The interim government has promised elections but has not set a date, AFP reported.