"I am here, with you": Venezuela's opposition leader returns to her home

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado has returned to her homeland after 10 months in exile. The United States ousted President Maduro and established a democratic transitional government, but left Machado out of the political process.

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado returned to her homeland today (Sunday) after more than ten months in exile. Her return takes place against a political landscape reshaped by the United States, her ally, but without her involvement. Machado announced on X: 'I am here. With you.' She left Venezuela last December for Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. A month after her departure, the US ousted President Nicolás Maduro and began working with the interim government in the country, a process from which Machado was excluded. During her time abroad, she attempted to return to Venezuela seven times without success. She toured the world to garner political support and even donated her Nobel Prize to US President Donald Trump. Trump called her a 'very nice woman' but claimed she has no support or respect within the country to lead. Instead, the US is working with acting President Delcy Rodríguez to implement reforms. At the end of August, Trump announced an agreement to take control of most of Venezuela's more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. Machado questioned why the agreement was signed by the current government, which she called an 'illegitimate regime'.