Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado says she plans to return from exile before the end of 2026 and run again for president, keeping pressure on Venezuela’s ruling system after years of repression against the country’s democratic opposition.
Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of Venezuela’s most prominent anti-regime figures, said she intends to re-enter the political arena despite being barred from the 2024 election. In that race, she backed Edmundo González after the regime blocked her candidacy, while the opposition claimed González won by a large margin.
Her message is meant to rally Venezuelans at home and abroad: the fight is not over, and the opposition does not intend to surrender Venezuela’s future to the remnants of the Maduro system.
Machado’s planned return could become a major test for the country’s political transition. A free election would require impartial election officials, the right of opposition candidates to run, and guarantees that Venezuelans inside and outside the country can vote without fear.