Venezuela’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said that she plans to run for president again and intends to return to her home country before the end of 2026.
As reported, Machado’s remarks, made while meeting in Panama with several fellow Venezuelan opposition leaders, come more than four months after the stunning White House decision to sideline her and instead work with a Venezuelan ruling party loyalist following the US military’s capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Machado rose to become Maduro’s strongest opponent in recent years, but his government barred her from running for office in the 2024 presidential election, leading her to choose retired ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia to represent her on the ballot.
Machado has been in exile since December, when she emerged from 11 months in hiding somewhere in Venezuela and traveled to Norway where she was honored with the Nobel prize.
She told reporters in Panama City that she and the other gathered opposition leaders remain committed to a democratic transition “through free and fair presidential elections, where all Venezuelans inside and outside the country vote.”
US President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have praised Maduro’s successor, acting President Delcy RodrÃguez, who has thrown open Venezuela’s oil industry to U.S. investment at a time of surging oil prices tied to the war in Iran.
The Trump administration has also dampened talk of elections, which are required by Venezuela’s constitution within 30 days of the president becoming “permanently unavailable.”
Machado said that an election with democratic conditions would take between seven and nine months of planning.
It is still unclear when Venezuela will hold a presidential election.
