Yes. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday, October 25, 2026, after more than 10 months in exile.
Machado announced her return on X with the words “I am here. With you,” and her ally Edmundo González, the opposition’s 2024 presidential candidate, confirmed minutes later that she was on Venezuelan soil. She was photographed attending Mass at a church in Lara state, surrounded by supporters. She had left Venezuela to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, and an adviser said in September that she had tried seven times to come back and been denied each time. While she was away, the US seized President Nicolás Maduro in January, and his deputy Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president with US backing. Machado’s next steps are unclear, but she has said she would run for president if an election were held. Her spokesperson, David Smolansky, called the return a major step toward a democratic transition and free, fair presidential elections.
Source: BBC News, Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado returns after months in exile
Image: María Corina Machado at a protest, Voice of America, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.