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

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkVenezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, on October 29, 2026 [Pedro Mattey/AP Photo]By Al Jazeera Staff and AFPPublished On 30 Oct 202630 Oct 2026Venezuelan 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.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Venezuela’s Maduro pleads not guilty to US conspiracy to torture chargeslist 2 of 4Venezuela opposition renews support for Maria Corina Machado as leaderlist 3 of 4Venezuelans demand elections in first national protest in nearly two yearslist 4 of 4Trump touts Venezuelan oil at Texas rally ahead of US midtermsend of list“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.