After months of forced exile, Venezuelan opposition leader returned triumphantly to Venezuela last Sunday, placing enormous pressure on the unelected leftist regime of to schedule elections next year. Machado slipped across the border from Colombia but was escorted by enthusiastic supporters along her way to Caracas.
In a conference call with reporters, Secretary of State insisted that the U.S. urged the Rodríguez regime to permit Machado’s return “weeks and weeks” ago and that she was free to enter the country. But Machado can be forgiven for her skepticism of Rodríguez’s sincerity. Forced into hiding after Maduro’s government stole the 2024 election, Machado made a daring escape from Venezuela to accept her Nobel Peace Prize last year. Returning to Venezuela required real courage. More than 300 political prisoners remain in the government’s jails, according to human rights group Foro Penal. One hardline Venezuelan official said earlier this year that “we will be waiting for her.”
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