Venezuelan opposition leader thanks Trump, urges elections after return

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado returned to Caracas on Sunday, thanked President Donald Trump’s administration for what she called a “floodgate to freedom” after the January abduction of Nicolás Maduro, and urged that presidential elections be held next year while condemning a new U.S. oil agreement.

What did Machado say about U.S. actions and elections?

She praised Trump, his administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for opening the “floodgate to freedom” and noted that Rubio “has set out a sequence of events aimed at moving toward a democratic transition that makes clear the holding of presidential elections in 2027,” according to Al Jazeera. Machado’s remarks framed the U.S. involvement as a catalyst for a democratic transition and a call for elections next year.

How did Machado manage to leave exile and return?

Machado escaped from Oslo with the assistance of U.S. special‑forces veterans from an organisation called Grey Bull Rescue, travelling by boat after spending a year in hiding from Maduro’s regime, Al Jazeera reported. She said she came back to “mobilise society” after more than ten months abroad.

What is the context of Venezuela’s political and economic situation?

Since Maduro’s abduction in January, former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been running the country, and a controversial U.S. oil deal will see Venezuela hand over 20 percent of its vast oil reserves, a pact Machado said “does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society wants,” Al Jazeera noted. Rodriguez later assured the nation that elections would be held “with the world as witness,” though no date was given.