Venezuela’s opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, María Corina Machado, has formally declared that “the time has come” to return to her country. Its announcement comes immediately after the catastrophe caused by two devastating earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that hit Venezuela last Wednesday, June 24. I already had the plans, but now they are accelerated.
So far, the earthquakes have claimed the lives of at least 1,450 people, also leaving 3,150 injured and severely affecting some 12,721 families. Given this situation, Machado – who has been in exile since the end of 2025, after having spent a period in hiding to avoid being arrested by the Government of Nicolás Maduro – expressed during an interview with the North American network Fox that his current top priority is humanitarian assistance.
“It is my duty to accompany my people, we need to be together to hug each other, to cry, to grieve together, but also to give each other strength in this difficult time,” Machado said, adding that “very soon” he will be back in Venezuelan territory to focus on comforting and saving lives.
The White House doesn’t quite see it
Despite the opposition leader’s intentions, her return plan and attempts at coordination have not had a favorable reception in the US capital. Senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration expressed deep frustration and called the move “inappropriate.” According to internal sources consulted by media such as the New York Times and Reuters, one of the officials went so far as to call Machado’s return initiative amid the rescue efforts a “political trick.”
“We support his return to Venezuela, but does it have to be 24 hours after a massive humanitarian catastrophe in which the death toll continues to rise?” a senior White House official told the British agency.
“We support his return to Venezuela, but does it have to be 24 hours after a massive humanitarian catastrophe in which the death toll continues to rise?”
The reports detail that, although Machado has formally requested Washington’s support and help to effect his safe return, the North American high command shows marked skepticism. During previous meetings held at the White House (such as the one that took place last March), various US leaders had already expressed serious concerns about the physical security guarantees for Machado.
The main reason behind Washington’s reticence and coldness lies in a shift in diplomatic priorities. The US Government has chosen to directly prioritize work and relations with the interim government of Venezuela, which is formally headed by the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, for whom Trump regularly has words of praise. He did not care that Machado even gave the magnate his Nobel Prize medal to change things.
As international rescue teams continue to mobilize to address the seismic emergency, Machado’s insistence on breaking his exile promises to open a new and unpredictable chapter in the intricate Venezuelan government crisis.
A person walks through the rubble of demolished buildings as rescue efforts continue after the Venezuela earthquake, on June 25, 2026, in La Guaira.
What about the elections?
And their demand for elections also now remains more in limbo, because the humanitarian emergency can delay things. Rodríguez and the authorities of the National Assembly, still controlled by Chavismo, have ruled out calling presidential elections in the short term, arguing that the absolute priority is to stabilize the country and manage the humanitarian crisis that has deepened after the recent and devastating earthquakes. The Supreme Court of Justice declared a state of “forced absence” for Maduro, a legal figure that allows the ruling party to maintain the interim mandate indefinitely.
The majority opposition, led externally by Machado (who travels the world explaining his struggle but who, above all, has set up his base in the US), demands the immediate establishment of an electoral schedule with a new National Electoral Council (CNE) and international observation. Former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia has publicly supported from exile the call for new votes to achieve democratic reestablishment. For the dissidents, he was the true winner of the last elections, in the summer of 2024, and much of the West assumes this. Even the US, before hunting down Maduro and allowing Rodríguez’s rise, endorsed this reading.
