Machado Returns to Venezuela After Months in Exile
María Corina Machado, the Nobel peace laureate and Venezuelan opposition leader, has returned home after more than ten months abroad and appeared at a church in Lara state this afternoon, surrounded by supporters. No arrest or security response has been reported. How she entered the country is not known.
Her ally Edmundo González said: “Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!” The return is awkward for Washington, which the Guardian reports had opposed it as a complication in its relationship with the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, installed after the United States seized Nicolás Maduro in January. Donald Trump said: “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?” Neither Ms Rodríguez nor her government has responded. Ms Machado has said she would run for president if an election were held.