María Corina Machado vows another run for Venezuelan presidency and eyes return from exile

VenezuelaVenezuela’s Machado vows another run for presidency and eyes return from exile before end of 2026María Corina Machado, now living in exile, said she plans to return home and seek the presidency again, calling into question whether Venezuela will hold democratic elections.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Venezuelan politician Maria Corina Machado.Gaby Oraa / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 24, 2026, 1:00 PM EDTBy The Associated PressVenezuela’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado announced Saturday that she plans to run for president again and intends to return to her home country before the end of 2026.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Machado’s remarks, made while meeting in Panama with several fellow Venezuelan opposition leaders, come more than four months after the stunning White House decision to sideline her and instead work with a Venezuelan ruling party loyalist following the U.S. military’s capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro.Machado has been in exile since December, when she emerged from 11 months in hiding somewhere in Venezuela and traveled to Norway where she was honored with the Nobel Prize.She told reporters in Panama City that she and the other gathered opposition leaders remain committed to a democratic transition “through free and fair presidential elections, where all Venezuelans inside and outside the country vote.”Still, it is unclear when Venezuela will hold a presidential election.U.S. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have praised Maduro’s successor, acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who has thrown open Venezuela’s oil industry to U.S. investment at a time of surging oil prices tied to the war in Iran.The Trump administration has also dampened talk of elections, which are required by Venezuela’s constitution within 30 days of the president becoming “permanently unavailable.”An el...