Venezuela: Protests Demand Return of Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado

Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado organized marches across the country on Sunday, calling for her safe return and for free elections.

Video footage showed protesters carrying Venezuelan flags riding motorcycles in convoys through the streets of several cities.

Machado has been unable to return to Venezuela since she traveled to Oslo last December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The opposition politician, who currently resides in Panama, has so far made seven failed attempts to return to her country, according to media reports.

Supporters of the opposition parties “Vente Venezuela” and “Primero Justicia” were among those participating in the demonstrations.

Protesters demanded a clear timeline for holding presidential elections in 2027 and chanted slogans including “Freedom, freedom.”

Weeks after Machado secretly left Venezuela, U.S. forces arrested President Nicolas Maduro during a military operation in Caracas last January.

Since then, the country has been led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez, who has worked closely with Washington. Rodriguez served as vice president under Maduro and is viewed by the opposition as part of the country’s former authoritarian regime.

In a video message, Juaniba said, “We are in the streets of Maracaibo demanding the return of Maria Corina Machado, immediate free elections, and the release of all political prisoners.”

Hundreds of people have been released from detention in Venezuela in recent months.

Human rights organizations stated that approximately 30 additional individuals were freed on Friday evening, just days after the first meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Rodriguez on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.