Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner María Corina Machado wants to return to Venezuela “within weeks” to “guarantee a transition to democracy.” On Sunday, Machado posted a video on Instagramaddressed to the people of Venezuela, announcing this.
In the video, she calls on her supporters to “strengthen the unity of Venezuelans that started during the primaries.” She refers to a voting round in 2023, when Machado was elected as a presidential candidate to compete against then-president Nicolás Maduro. Machado was later excluded from the elections by the regime. In the video message she says she is preparing for “a new and gigantic election victory.”
“We have a clear vision of the strength, the route and the objectives,” she writes under the video. “We will see each other in Venezuela in a few weeks.”
Nobel Prize
Machado (58) has been opposing the regime of former President Maduro for years, who was captured by the United States in early January. She did not do this in exile, but in hiding in her own country.
In December she left Venezuela to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. She later gave the medal she received to American President Trump, who had repeatedly indicated that he also aspired to the award. Machado has been in the United States in recent months.
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Since the US military intervention, the situation in the country, now governed by former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, has changed significantly. The Venezuelan parliament passed an amnesty law two weeks ago, potentially freeing hundreds of politicians, journalists and human rights activists arrested by governments of Maduro and predecessor Hugo Chávez.
The question remains how far the law extends, and whether the law also makes it possible for Machado to return safely. The opposition leader is accused by the authorities of, among other things, supporting the military intervention by the US. Also according to Delcy Rodríguez, Machado will “have to justify herself” if she returns to the country, she said earlier in an interview with NBC.
