Nobel Prize Winner Machado Plans Venezuela Return, Calls for New Elections

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, announced Sunday she plans to return to her homeland within weeks. The 58-year-old politician is calling for new elections and urging supporters to unite for what she calls another major electoral victory.

Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado announced Sunday her intention to return to Venezuela within the coming weeks, while also declaring that new elections will take place in the South American nation.

The Venezuelan opposition leader, who received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, did not specify an exact timeline for her homecoming but stated that among her goals will be preparing “for a new and gigantic electoral victory.”

Through a social media post, Machado urged her followers to “strengthen the unity of Venezuelans that began with the primaries,” referring to the 2023 selection process where she emerged victorious as the unified opposition candidate to challenge former President Nicolás Maduro in elections.

Current Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who has held power since Maduro and his spouse were detained during a U.S. military operation in January, has issued a warning that Machado “will have to answer” should she return to Venezuelan soil.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has outlined that Venezuela’s transformation must occur through stages including stabilization, economic rebuilding, and governmental transition. Rubio has not suggested that voting could occur in the immediate future.

The 58-year-old political leader, who plays a central role in Venezuela’s opposition movement, received the Nobel Peace Prize last year in recognition of her efforts to bring democratic change to Venezuela.

In a move that generated controversy, she later gave her Nobel medal to U.S. President Donald Trump following the military action that removed Maduro from power. Maduro now confronts drug trafficking accusations in American courts and has entered a not guilty plea.

Following Maduro’s declared victory in the July 2024 election, demonstrations broke out across the country, leading to extensive government crackdowns. Opposition groups maintained they possessed reliable proof that Edmundo González was the actual winner, who had taken Machado’s place on the ballot after authorities prevented her from running.