Venezuelan leader Maria Corina Machado returns after 10 months in exile, but election remains uncertain; here’s why | Today’s news
Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate, returned home on Sunday (local time) after more than 10 months in exile. Last December, she secretly left the country to travel to Norway, where she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. Her reappearance comes at a time when doubts are growing about the democratic future of Caracas and the role of the US.
Machado announced her arrival in a post on social media, writing: “I’m here. With you.” According to reports, she appeared at a church in the western state of Lara and was greeted by onlookers and supporters who sang the national anthem.
Her appearance on October 25 (Sunday) was the first since the US military ousted the country’s then-president Nicolás Maduro in January, after which Delcy Rodríguez, a former Maduro ally, was named acting president. She has exceeded the time she was authorized to serve, with no elections scheduled. She was originally supposed to serve as interim president for 90 days, but has remained in office since Maduro’s ouster in January and has made no move to call an election, according to the AP.
Why do Venezuela’s elections remain uncertain despite Machado’s return?
While Machado and her allies have demanded a date for the country’s presidential election, Washington has made it clear that it will focus first on economic stabilization. The opposition leader and her allies are also pressing the incumbent president’s government to announce an election date. But in September, Rodríguez, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), said Venezuelans would decide the “right moment” to hold the vote.
According to Reuters, Machado has called for a vote by July 2027, but the election could be a year or more away as they await reforms to the courts and electoral bodies to ensure fair competition.
According to a CNN report, while US President Donald Trump has supported Machado in the past, the administration has sidelined her from the country’s ongoing political transformation. Instead, the Trump administration is working with Maduro’s successor, Rodríguez, to bring about political and economic reforms in the country. The interim president has met almost all of the Trump administration’s demands, including releasing hundreds of political prisoners and making it easier for American companies to invest in Caracas. Rodríguez’s government also signed a deal with Trump in August that allows Washington to take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela, which Machado criticized.
Moreover, the prospects for elections remain bleak as Trump has repeatedly stated that the country is not yet ready for elections, despite significant progress.
