Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader announces shock return to the country

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has returned ‌to the country nearly a year after her daring escape.

"I'm ‌here. With you all," the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Ms Machado wrote on X early on Sunday.

She was seen appearing at a church in Venezuela's Lara state, west of Caracas, to the applause of dozens gathered there.

"Maria! Maria!" someone cried out, while one woman wiped away tears and called it "a miracle", while another woman's hands flew to her face as she saw Ms Machado enter the church.

The opposition leader was barred by Nicolas Maduro's government from exiting Venezuela and was briefly detained, but secretly left in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, after spending more than a year living mostly in hiding.

Another leading opposition figure, Edmundo Gonzalez, who has been living in Spain, wrote on X confirming her arrival on "Venezuelan soil" and that he would be with her "very soon".

He added: "Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!. You know it, this is until the end."

Ms Machado's return could strain relations with Washington and appeared to take Donald Trump by surprise, who said he didn't know she had returned but hoped she was safe.

"I don't know anything about it, but I think she's a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she's safe. She's a very nice woman. But we're doing really well in Venezuela," he said.

The US president has repeatedly expressed support for interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who has been in power since US forces captured former president Maduro in a military operation.

Rodríguez was initially supposed to serve only 90 days as acting president, but has remained in office and made no move to call an election.

Mr Trump has also hailed deals on oil production by US companies in Venezuela, and in September said it was too soon to consider democratic elections in the country.

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Ms Machado has said only a "serious, ‌democratic government" can provide the stability needed by investors.

In June, she said she would do whatever it took to come home and help ‌survivors of devastating twin earthquakes from that month, which killed at least 6,500 people.

Her desire to return had caused friction in Washington, with Reuters reporting in June that US officials had asked her to delay her trip.

She did not disclose more details about her current location or how she returned.

(c) Sky News 2026: Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader announces shock return to the country