CARACAS – Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has returned to Caracas in a surprise move that could pose the biggest test yet to acting President Delcy Rodriguez’s political opening and the Trump administration’s strategy for a post-Maduro Venezuela.
“I’m here, with you,” Machado posted on X on Oct 25, confirming her return after months abroad. She did not disclose how she entered Venezuela or her current whereabouts.
Machado thanked President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their support, highlighting her ties with Washington even as her return risks complicating the administration’s Venezuela policy. Trump told reporters as he left the White House that he did not know about her return.
Her arrival presents Rodriguez with a difficult choice over how much political space to allow her most formidable rival. Rodriguez’s government has already permitted several exiled politicians, activists and journalists to return, including some of Machado’s closest allies.
Allowing Machado to organise and campaign freely would represent the most significant expansion of that opening so far. Detaining her or restricting her activities, however, could increase pressure on Washington to respond. Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Machado holds a 61 per cent positive rating in the latest AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg News. The same poll showed her leading Rodriguez 52 per cent to 19 per cent in a hypothetical presidential election.
Washington has prioritised economic stability, rebuilding Venezuela’s oil industry and a gradual political transition while relying on Rodriguez to maintain order and negotiate institutional changes. That approach has produced a major energy agreement giving the US access to as much as 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s crude reserves.
The political process has largely moved forward without Machado. US-backed talks between Rodriguez’s government and a faction of the opposition concluded their latest round this week with agreements to review laws on political disqualifications, political parties and public demonstrations.
Opposition negotiator Dinorah Figuera also met Rodriguez at the Miraflores presidential palace after the talks, a striking sign of engagement between the government and some opponents while Machado remained outside the process.
Machado had signalled that her return was imminent. In a recent interview with the New York Times, she suggested she intended to mobilise Venezuelans ahead of future elections.
She has also criticised parts of Washington’s transition strategy, including the energy deal involving businessman Alejandro Betancourt, potentially complicating an agreement central to the administration’s plans.
Her return comes less than two weeks before US midterm elections, which could shift control of Congress and bring greater scrutiny to the administration’s Venezuela policy. It also follows fresh opposition protests in several Venezuelan cities demanding a presidential election date.
Authorities briefly detained at least seven people and blocked a route ahead of demonstrations in Caracas, testing the limits of the government’s political opening.
Machado went into hiding shortly after the disputed 2024 presidential election, saying she feared for her life as Nicolas Maduro’s government targeted opposition leaders. She left Venezuela in late 2025 in a clandestine operation to collect her Nobel Peace Prize.