Venezuela’s Machado lauds Trump for ‘freedom’, urges 2027 elections

Nobel Peace Prize winner returns to Venezuela from exile, pressing for elections and criticising a controversial US oil deal with Caracas.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, on October 29, 2026 [Pedro Mattey/AP Photo]

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has thanked US President Donald Trump’s administration for opening the “floodgate to freedom” by abducting President Nicolas Maduro in January.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate on Thursday also called for elections to be held in Venezuela next year, in her first public remarks since returning from more than 10 months in exile.

list 1 of 4 Venezuela’s Maduro pleads not guilty to US conspiracy to torture charges

list 2 of 4 Venezuela opposition renews support for Maria Corina Machado as leader

list 3 of 4 Venezuelans demand elections in first national protest in nearly two years

list 4 of 4 Trump touts Venezuelan oil at Texas rally ahead of US midterms

“Thanks to their vision, their courage, and their action on January 3, the floodgate to freedom has been opened,” Machado told a news conference in Caracas, naming Trump, his administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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”, she said.

Machado has praised Trump before, presenting the president with her Nobel medal – a prize he feverishly coveted for himself in 2025.

A longtime activist, Machado fled Venezuela for Oslo in December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. On Thursday, she said she had come home to “mobilise society”. US special forces veterans with an organisation called Grey Bull Rescue helped Machado escape by boat after she spent a year in hiding from Maduro’s regime.

Since Maduro’s abduction in January, the country has been ruled by his former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Machado greets crowds of supporters in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 25, 2026 [Jesus Vargas/Getty Images]

Machado was greeted by cheering supporters as she travelled in her motorcade after she returned to Venezuela on Sunday. Rodriguez voiced distaste for the fanfare.

“The show could have been avoided – the airports are right here,” she said on state television.

When asked about a possible meeting with Rodriguez, the opposition leader said she had not received any message from her or from Washington.

Shortly before Machado’s statements on Thursday, Rodriguez assured the nation that elections would be held in Venezuela “with the world as witness” but did not specify a date.

Her return comes just weeks after a controversial US oil deal that will see Venezuela hand over 20 percent of its vast oil reserves.

“This agreement does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society wants,” Machado said, criticising the deal.

诺贝尔和平奖得主结束流亡生涯返回委内瑞拉，敦促举行选举，并批评美国与加拉加斯达成的备受争议的石油协议。

委内瑞拉反对派领袖玛丽亚·科里纳·马查多于 2026 年 10 月 29 日在委内瑞拉首都加拉加斯 [Pedro Mattey/美联社照片]

委内瑞拉反对派领导人玛丽亚·科琳娜·马查多感谢美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府在1月份绑架总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗，打开了“通往自由的闸门”。

诺贝尔和平奖得主周四呼吁委内瑞拉明年举行选举，这是她结束10个多月的流亡生活返回委内瑞拉后首次公开讲话。

委内瑞拉总统马杜罗对美国提出的酷刑阴谋指控拒不不认罪（共4项指控，此为第1项）

委内瑞拉反对派重申支持玛丽亚·科琳娜·马查多担任领导人（共4条记录，此为第2条）

委内瑞拉民众举行近两年来首次全国性抗议，要求举行选举（名单3/4）

列表 4/4：特朗普在德克萨斯州集会上吹捧委内瑞拉石油，为美国中期选举造势

“多亏了他们的远见卓识、勇气和1月3日的行动，自由的闸门已经打开，”马查多在加拉加斯举行的新闻发布会上说道，他点名批评了特朗普、他的政府和国务卿马可·卢比奥。

她表示，鲁比奥“制定了一系列旨在实现民主过渡的事件，明确表示将在 2027 年举行总统选举”。

马查多此前曾赞扬过特朗普，并向总统赠送了她的诺贝尔奖章——特朗普在 2025 年就曾热切期盼自己能获得该奖项。

长期从事社会活动的活动家马查多于去年12月逃离委内瑞拉前往奥斯陆领取诺贝尔和平奖。周四，她表示自己已返回美国，旨在“动员社会”。在躲避马杜罗政权长达一年后，美国特种部队退伍军人组成的“灰牛救援”组织帮助马查多乘船逃离。

自马杜罗1月份被绑架以来，该国一直由他的前副总统德尔西·罗德里格斯统治。

2026年10月25日，马查多在委内瑞拉加拉加斯向支持者们致意。[Jesus Vargas/Getty Images]

周日，马查多返回委内瑞拉后，乘坐车队经过时受到了欢呼雀跃的支持者的迎接。罗德里格斯对这种盛大的欢迎仪式表示不满。

“这场闹剧本来是可以避免的——机场就在这里，”她在国家电视台说道。

当被问及是否有可能与罗德里格斯会面时，这位反对派领导人表示，她没有收到罗德里格斯或华盛顿方面的任何消息。

在马查多周四发表声明前不久，罗德里格斯向全国保证，委内瑞拉将举行选举，“全世界都将见证”，但他没有具体说明日期。

在她返回委内瑞拉前几周，美国刚刚与委内瑞拉达成一项备受争议的石油协议，根据该协议，委内瑞拉将交出其庞大石油储备的 20%。

马查多批评这项协议时说：“这项协议没有体现委内瑞拉社会所希望的透明度水平。”