Opposition leader Machado returns to Venezuela after months in exile

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after spending months in exile in Panama.

“I am here. With you,” Machado wrote on US social media platform X, confirming her return after at least seven reported attempts to re-enter the country were blocked.

Fellow opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez welcomed her return, writing on X that “our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process” and pledging to join her on Venezuelan soil soon to pursue a political transition.

Machado, who heads the Vente Venezuela movement and received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, had been staying in Panama since late May with the backing of President Jose Raul Mulino. Her longtime rival, former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was captured by US forces during an operation in January.

Muhammed Yasin Güngör