Maria Corina Machado Returns To Venezuela After 10 Months Exile – “I Am Here With You”

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has returned to Venezuela today Sunday October 25, 2026 after more than 10 months in exile, declaring “Estoy aqui. Con ustedes” – “I am here. With you”.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate made a surprise appearance at the Church of Santa Rosa in Barquisimeto, Lara State, where she was mobbed by ecstatic supporters chanting her name, 10 months after she fled the country.

Where Is Maria Corina Machado Now?

Machado’s press team confirmed she landed in Lara State, western Venezuela. Videos shared by Comando Con Venezuela show her at the Iglesia Santa Rosa giving thanks to Divina Pastora, one of Venezuela’s most revered Virgin Mary images.

She disappeared from public life in January 2025 after brief detention, lived in hiding, then secretly left Venezuela in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway in December 2025 for her peaceful challenge to Nicolas Maduro.

Trump and Rubio React To Machado Return

US President Donald Trump reacted Sunday at the White House: “I hope she’s safe. She’s a very nice woman,” adding that she had given him her Nobel Prize. Trump said US is “doing really well in Venezuela” and has “total control” of oil, taking “millions of barrels per week”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X: “Her safe return was the direct result of US-supported reconciliation talks which has already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed.” Rubio added US expects freedoms of all political sectors to be respected.

What This Means For Venezuela

Machado’s return poses a major challenge to interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took over after US forces captured former President Nicolas Maduro in January 2026. Rodriguez has backing of Trump administration with oil deals granting US control of 65 billion barrels reserves.

Opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who ran in Machado’s place in 2024 election and is recognized by US as winner, wrote on X: “Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our leader is on Venezuelan soil.” He said he will join her soon.

Machado has called for free elections soon, while Washington says Venezuela must first stabilize. She plans to meet families of political prisoners and victims of June 2026 twin earthquakes that killed 6,500 people.

Last Updated: Sunday, October 25, 2026 – Al Jazeera / Reuters / USA Today