By Vivian Sequera, Sarah Kinosian and Keren Torres
CARACAS/BARQUISIMETO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned home on Sunday after nearly a year away, and after several failed attempts to return that strained her ties with US President Donald Trump's administration.
"I'm here. With you all," the Nobel Peace Prize-winner wrote on X.
She appeared at a church in western Lara state, according to images shared by her press team, and was greeted by bystanders who sang
the national anthem and shouted "liberty!" as she left in an SUV, a Reuters witness said. She will travel to Caracas by road, her team said.
Her efforts to return have tested her relationship with the Trump administration, which she has sought to cultivate as an ally since before it removed President Nicolas Maduro from power in January.
US officials have asked her at least once to delay her return, Reuters reported in June, and she has made several failed attempts to enter the country. Her team did not disclose details how she returned.
Trump has repeatedly expressed support for interim President Delcy Rodriguez, former deputy to ousted President Nicolas Maduro, and hailed deals on oil production and other business ventures by US companies in the South American country. Trump said in September it was too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela.
At the White House on Sunday, Trump said he did not know anything about Machado's return and suggested the US would continue to back Rodriguez.
"She's a very nice woman," he said, referring to Machado. "But we're doing really well in Venezuela.”
Machado took a private plane from Panama to Colombia and then crossed overland to Venezuela, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
"The conditions allowing for the safe return of Ms. Machado to Venezuela are the direct result of the US-supported reconciliation talks which have already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of political opposition figures return from exile," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
"We expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not just a free and fair election but an enduring democracy."
A faction of the opposition and the interim government held their latest session of talks this month, with the aim of remaking the top court and electoral council, among other goals, ahead of eventual elections. They do not include Machado's political movement.
The Venezuelan communications ministry, which handles all press queries for the government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Machado's return.
MEETING WITH VICTIMS
"Maria Corina Machado will achieve liberty and democracy in Venezuela," said Hernan Adames, 69, as he celebrated with other supporters in Barquisimeto.
Machado plans to meet with victims of the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, as well as the families of political prisoners, the international community and various leaders from the democratic movement in Venezuela, David Smolansky, her top foreign affairs adviser, told Reuters.
"She will work proactively for a date for free and fair elections," he added.
International energy firms committed last month to expanding projects in the country in a signing ceremony overseen by Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Machado has said that only a "serious, democratic government" can provide the stability needed by investors.
She had been barred by Maduro's government from exiting Venezuela but she secretly left in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending more than a year living mostly in hiding.
Machado's Vente Venezuela movement debuted an app on Saturday to collect voter registration information from Venezuelans abroad. The group hopes eventually to share data from the app, which was built by 15 staff over the last 18 months, with a reformed electoral council so users can be officially added to voter rolls.
Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Machado's movement who has been living in Spain, said on X he would soon join her in Venezuela.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Sarah Kinosian in Caracas, Keren Torres in Barquisimeto and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Julia Symmes Cobb, Laura Gottesdiener and Edmund Klamann)
