Venezuela’s Machado returns from exile to crowds of cheering supporters - CNN

María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela after more than 10 months in exile. Supporters greeted her journey with Venezuelan flags, music, cheering crowds, and flashing phone cameras. Her arrival mattered because she is a prominent opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has fought for democracy against Nicolás Maduro.

Crowds gathered first around her car and later along Caracas highways, overpasses, and streets. One supporter said Machado’s return gave hope that her own children could someday return home. The welcome showed the emotional importance of her return to Venezuelans who want political change and reunification with relatives abroad.

Machado returned while the country’s government works through a US-brokered democratic transition after Maduro’s capture. Her return could strengthen opposition participation, but she had been excluded from much of the ongoing negotiation process. The next challenge is turning public support into cooperation over elections and democratic institutions.

A political leader living in exile is outside the country while remaining active in its political struggle. Exile can result from threats, government pressure, or being prevented from returning. The leader may campaign, meet allies, and speak for supporters from abroad, but cannot directly participate at home.

Machado spent more than 10 months away from Venezuela. Her advisers said she tried to re-enter seven times. One attempt came after earthquakes, when she said the government closed the country’s airspace. During another attempt, while Delcy Rodríguez was at the United Nations, Machado said she was denied entry three times in one day.

Her return became possible after Maduro was removed and negotiations began over Venezuela’s democratic transition. Marco Rubio said Machado had the right to enter her country and that Washington wanted her safety guaranteed. Her return ended the immediate period of exclusion, but political uncertainty remains.

Machado spent more than 10 months outside Venezuela before returning. During that time, she traveled internationally, rallied support from allies, and accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. Her absence was not voluntary in a simple political sense, because repeated efforts to return were blocked.

According to her advisers, Machado attempted to re-enter Venezuela seven times. She first tried in late June after powerful earthquakes struck the country. She later tried again in late September, when acting President Delcy Rodríguez was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. She said she was denied entry three times that day.

The successful return came after Maduro’s capture by US special forces in January. The United States then began negotiations with the acting Venezuelan government about political reconciliation and a democratic transition. Those changes removed the immediate barrier that had prevented Machado from coming home.

Maduro’s removal mattered because his government had controlled the political environment and repeatedly blocked Machado’s return. After his capture by US special forces in January, the United States began working with the acting Venezuelan government on democratic transition and political reconciliation.

The negotiations created a new mechanism for managing political change. They included high-profile opposition figures, with Dinorah Figuera leading the opposition bloc’s talks with the government. Figuera said Machado’s return resulted from Maduro’s ouster and the ongoing negotiations. Marco Rubio also linked the talks to the possibility of free and fair elections.

Machado returned into an unsettled transition rather than a settled democracy. The talks had excluded her, even though she remains a major opposition figure. Her presence could broaden political participation and help move the country toward elections, but all political actors still need to support the process and respect political freedoms.

Machado could serve as a powerful opposition voice during Venezuela’s democratic transition. She has spent recent years fighting for democratic rights and confronting Maduro. Her return gives supporters a visible leader at home and could increase pressure for an election that is genuinely free and fair.

Her party’s international-relations director, Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli, said her return aims to foster a transition and move Venezuela toward elections. Machado has also hinted that she would run for president again if an election were held. Her supporters’ large welcome in Caracas showed the political energy surrounding her.

Her influence is not guaranteed. The US-brokered negotiations have so far involved other opposition figures and largely excluded Machado. She therefore faces the task of entering an existing process, building cooperation, and helping ensure that political freedoms and credible elections remain central to Venezuela’s future.

The United States has backed Machado’s democratic cause because she has campaigned for democratic rights and a free political future in Venezuela. Marco Rubio described the negotiations as the country’s best chance in thirty years to achieve a free and fair election and an enduring democracy.

At the same time, Washington is working with the acting Venezuelan government because it controls the formal transition process. The talks involve political reconciliation and several high-profile opposition figures. Dinorah Figuera leads the opposition bloc’s negotiations, while Machado has largely been left out. This creates a gap between US support for her and its practical diplomacy.

The administration has not withdrawn support for her rights. Rubio said Machado could enter Venezuela whenever she wanted and expected freedoms for all political sectors. The United States also expects every political actor to support the talks, making inclusion and cooperation important tests of the transition.

A free and fair election gives voters real choices and lets candidates campaign without intimidation or unjust exclusion. It also requires accurate voter lists, secret ballots, honest counting, and results that reflect the votes. These conditions make an election a genuine way for citizens to choose their government.

Independent election authorities are essential because they organize voting, enforce rules, count ballots, and announce results. They must be able to act without orders from the government or pressure from a ruling party. In Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election, government-controlled electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner, allowing him to remain in power.

That example shows why independence matters in the transition now under way. US officials say the negotiations should lead to a free and fair election and an enduring democracy. Rebuilding trust will require election officials and political actors to respect rules, freedoms, and credible results.