KOR
▲ Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been confirmed to have secretly returned to the country, it was verified on the 25th (local time).
Machado announced her return on social media that day, stating, "I am here. With you."
She did not disclose her specific location or the method of her return.
Edmundo González, who ran in the 2024 presidential election under Machado's support, also confirmed Machado's return via a post on X from his place of exile in Spain, and announced that he will join her "very soon."
With Machado's return, attention is focused on whether the election of Venezuela's next leader will gain momentum. Venezuela has been in a transitional government state for 10 months following the ouster of former President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela is currently under an interim presidential system led by Delcy Rodríguez, who served as vice president under the Maduro regime.
Machado, who has led opinion polls in approval ratings for presidential candidates, has continued her life in exile since leaving the country in December of last year to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
She had been staying in Panama until recently, and in an interview with the UK's Financial Times (FT) on the 9th, she insisted that the presidential election must be held no later than July of next year.
The Associated Press (AP) pointed out that even though the legally permitted period for Rodríguez to serve as acting president after Maduro was apprehended and detained by the U.S. military has already been exceeded, an election schedule has not yet been set.
U.S. President Donald Trump expressed a stance in September saying, "They are not ready to hold elections yet."
Rodríguez, who has led the interim government and shifted toward a pro-U.S. alignment, also agreed with this.
Meanwhile, the two countries signed an agreement securing U.S. access to one-fifth of Venezuela's oil reserves.
Speaking to reporters en route to Michigan from the White House that day regarding Machado's return, President Trump said, "She gave me her Nobel Prize. What else can I say?" adding, "I hope she is safe. She is a very nice woman. But we are doing very well in Venezuela."
In a previous interview with Fox News, he emphasized that the United States "totally has control of Venezuela" and that "every week we're taking out millions of barrels of oil" from Venezuela.
The Trump administration stated that it paved the way for Machado's return through negotiations with the Venezuelan interim government.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X, "The conditions that allowed Ms. Machado to safely return to Venezuela are the direct result of a reconciliation negotiation supported by the United States."
Secretary Rubio added, "Through this negotiation, hundreds of political prisoners have already been released, and hundreds of opposition politicians have returned home from exile."
Although he has emphasized that Venezuela must stabilize its economy and rebuild state institutions, including the courts and the national electoral council, before holding elections, he also told reporters earlier this month that "(Machado) has every right to enter her country whenever she wants to return."
AP reported that Machado had previously attempted to return seven times, only to be thwarted each time, and that there were observations that President Trump's intentions—who was not welcoming of Machado's early return—may have played a role behind the scenes.
According to Reuters, Machado's repeated expressions of intent to return caused friction in Washington D.C., with U.S. officials asking Machado to postpone her return schedule.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
