Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado Back in Country After Nearly a Year in Exile

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has returned to her home country after almost a year in exile, her team confirmed to CBS News on Sunday. Machado announced the news herself in a Spanish-language post on X, writing, "I am here. With you."

She gave no details about where she is now or how she made it back into the country.

Her senior adviser, David Smoalnsky, described the return in a statement as "a major step toward a democratic transition and free, fair, and verifiable presidential elections in the near future." He said Machado came back to stand with Venezuelans seeking freedom, democracy and justice, and to help advance a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable transition. He also thanked President Trump, the U.S. government and others for "their continued leadership and support."

Machado left Venezuela in secret in December with a private U.S. rescue team so she could accept the Nobel Prize, her first public appearance in 11 months. That event took place a month before the U.S. military removed then-President Nicolás Maduro from power. Maduro's government had barred her from leaving the country and regards her as a fugitive, accusing her of calling for military intervention.

Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Machado's movement who lives in Spain, also confirmed her arrival on social media. He said he would join her "very soon" and wrote that "our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!"

After word of her return spread, Machado was seen at a church in Lara state, west of Caracas, according to the Associated Press. Dozens of supporters shook her hand and hugged her while holding up phones to film the moment. Cries of "María! María!" and "Welcome to Venezuela!" rang out, and one man shouted, "Long live freedom, damn it!" One woman wiped away tears and called the return "a miracle."

Asked about the matter by reporters on Sunday, Trump said he knew nothing about it but called Machado "a very nice woman." He added, "She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else?" and said he hoped she was safe.

Machado had tried to come back before, including after the devastating double earthquakes of June 24. In September, she was refused entry three times in 24 hours, Smoalnsky said then, noting that she had tried to enter by both air and sea.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the conditions allowing her return were "the direct result of the U.S. support reconciliation talks." He wrote on X that Washington expects the freedoms of all sectors of Venezuelan politics to be respected and all political actors to back the talks, which he called the best chance in thirty years to achieve a free and fair election and an enduring democracy.

The homecoming comes amid growing doubts about Venezuela's democratic future and the U.S. role in it. Since Maduro's ouster, acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally who had the Trump administration's blessing to succeed him, has run the country. She has stayed beyond the period she was authorized to serve, and no election has been scheduled. Machado and her allies are demanding an election date, while U.S. officials have stressed economic stabilization first.