Machado Returns to Venezuela, Pressing for Election Talks

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to the country on October 25 after more than 10 months abroad, renewing pressure for an election timetable while leaving her outside US-backed negotiations with the interim government. Machado’s party announced the return after she posted a message on social media saying she was back. Party-distributed footage showed her at a church in Santa Rosa, in Barquisimeto, and later among supporters as she traveled toward Caracas. Crowds gathered along the route and in the capital. Machado did not make public remarks during the return, according to reports. Her return followed a series of unsuccessful attempts to reenter Venezuela. Advisers have given differing counts of those attempts, so the precise number is not established. Machado left in December 2025 to travel to Norway for events related to the Nobel Peace Prize, which she received for her work promoting democratic rights. Claudia Macero, a spokeswoman for Machado’s Vente Venezuela party, said Machado was willing to meet interim President Delcy Rodríguez, or others needed at the negotiating table, if there were a clear agenda. No meeting has been scheduled. Rodríguez...