The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated on Monday, the 26th, that the Trump administration had informed the interim authorities in Venezuela “for weeks and weeks” that opposition leader María Corina Machado should be allowed to return, as the country moves forward with preparations for next year’s elections.
Rubio told reporters, in a conference call, that the government of interim president Delcy Rodríguez responded to the U.S. saying that Machado was free to enter the country. Machado returned to Venezuela over the weekend.
“For weeks and weeks, we spoke with the interim authorities and simply said: ‘Look, our expectation is that she be Venezuelan, that her place is in her country. This is the country from which she comes. She should have permission to return. She should be able to come back without any impediment’,” Rubio said.
He argued that the U.S. had not discouraged Machado from returning to Venezuela, except immediately after the devastating earthquakes that occurred in June. He also said that this occurred because the U.S. considered it a priority to ensure the entry of humanitarian and emergency aid into the country.
Rubio spoke after Venezuelan authorities and opposition figures reached an agreement last week on a plan to reform the country’s electoral process, so that free and fair elections could occur at some point in 2027.
He stated that the Trump administration – which captured the dictator Nicolás Maduro in a January military operation and took him to the United States to answer drug trafficking charges – would be following the developments closely and urging all parties to comply with the new process.
“Obviously, we need to use our influence with the government so that the interim authorities ensure that the process advances responsibly,” Rubio said. “Our objective here is to hold an election.”
Machado spent most of 2025 hidden in Venezuela before secretly fleeing, in December of that year, to Norway, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize. Subsequently, she handed her medal to President Donald Trump.
She returned to Venezuela on Sunday, in her first public appearance since the United States ousted Maduro and replaced him with Rodríguez, who had been his vice president and who has now surpassed the time allowed to hold the office, with no election having been scheduled so far.
Rubio stated that the goal of the United States is to help establish a sustainable electoral framework that gives all parties confidence in the outcome of the vote.
To get there, Rubio said that Venezuela needs to stabilize its economy and rebuild its institutions, including the judiciary and the electoral council, in addition to providing an open space for political expression, which will depend on freedom of the press and access to all media, including online platforms.
