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Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Global（https://thecitypaperbogota.com/global/）
María Corina Machado’s Return to Venezuela Tests Washington’s Managed Transition
By Richard Emblin（https://thecitypaperbogota.com/author/richard-emblin/）
- October 26, 2026
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Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado during the 2024 election campaign. Photo: VENTE
After nearly ten months abroad, Venezuela’s opposition leader has returned to a country still governed by Nicolás Maduro’s former deputy, raising fresh questions about the role of Colombia, the Trump administration and the prospects for free elections.
María Corina Machado’s return to Venezuela over the weekend has reopened the central question confronting the country after Nicolás Maduro’s removal: whether the transition now being managed by Washington and interim president Delcy Rodríguez will lead to genuine democratic change, or consolidate a new political arrangement that leaves much of the decades-old chavista apparatus intact.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate announced her return on Sunday, 25 October, with a brief message to her supporters: “I am here. With you.”
Her first confirmed public appearance was in Barquisimeto, in the western state of Lara, where she attended Mass at the Santuario de la Divina Pastora. From there, she travelled towards Caracas, where crowds gathered along the highway to welcome a leader who had spent much of the previous year in hiding before leaving Venezuela in December 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.
The journey was remarkable not simply because Machado had returned, but because the circumstances of her entry remained largely undisclosed. Reports indicate that she had made at least seven unsuccessful attempts to return, involving air and sea travel. Two Venezuelan exiles told AFP that she entered overland from Colombia, while other reporting has pointed to coordination involving Colombian, Panamanian and US authorities. The precise route and the arrangements that enabled her return have yet to be independently established.
That uncertainty places Colombia at the centre of a potentially important diplomatic story. If Colombian authorities or intermediaries helped facilitate Machado’s passage, the details could offer insight into the negotiations surrounding Venezuela’s uncertain transition. For Bogotá, the question is whether any involvement was logistical, diplomatic or part of a broader understanding involving Washington, the goverment of Abelardo de la Espriella and ultimately, Caracas.
The political backdrop is equally significant. Since US forces captured Maduro in January, Rodríguez, his former vice-president, has remained in power with the backing of President Donald Trump’s administration. Washington has pursued cooperation with the interim government on economic stabilisation and Venezuela’s oil industry while supporting negotiations intended to establish a path towards democratic elections.
Machado, however, has remained largely outside those negotiations. Talks involving another opposition bloc have addressed institutional reforms, including changes to the judicial and electoral systems, but have not produced a definitive timetable for presidential elections.
Her return therefore presents a challenge to both the Venezuelan government and Washington’s preferred approach. Machado has argued that Venezuela needs a credible electoral process, and her presence in the country gives her an opportunity to rebuild direct contact with supporters rather than conduct opposition politics from abroad.
The response from Washington has been revealing. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the conditions permitting Machado’s safe return were the direct result of US-backed reconciliation talks, which he said had facilitated the release of political prisoners and the return of opposition figures from exile. He urged all political actors to support the negotiations, describing them as an opportunity to achieve free and fair elections and a lasting democracy.