Nobel Peace Prize Winner Makes Surprise Return to Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado made a surprise appearance in Venezuela yesterday (Sunday), returning to the country after nearly a year abroad.

"I am here. With you," Machado wrote on her X (formerly Twitter) account, without providing further details about her return. Reuters reported that no information had been released about how she entered the country, although her press team confirmed in a statement that she was in the town square of Santa Rosa, in the western state of Lara.

Machado's unexpected appearance took the local community by surprise. "Venezuela! I am thrilled to announce that our leader, my dear María Corina, is on Venezuelan soil," said Edmundo González earlier. González was the opposition candidate in Venezuela's 2024 presidential election after Machado was barred from running.

The government of ousted President Nicolás Maduro had prohibited Machado from leaving Venezuela. However, she secretly left the country at the end of 2025 to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending more than a year in hiding.

Asked about Machado's return yesterday, US President Donald Trump said: "I don't know anything about it. But I think she's a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize, so how can I say otherwise? And I hope she's safe. She's a very nice woman, but we're doing very well in Venezuela."

Two months ago, a faction of the opposition and the US-backed interim government began talks aimed at reforming Venezuela's political system ahead of elections. Machado's political movement, Vente Venezuela, is not participating in those discussions.

David Smolansky, an adviser to Machado, welcomed her return, saying: "Machado, the leader of Venezuela's democratic forces, has returned to Venezuela after nearly a year in exile. A fundamental step toward a democratic transition and the holding of free, fair and verifiable presidential elections in the near future."

He added: "The leader returns to stand alongside Venezuelans in the pursuit of freedom, democracy and justice, and to help advance a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable transition that will lead to free, fair and verifiable presidential elections with guarantees for all."