Machado Tells NPR She Plans to Return to Venezuela by End of 2026 for New Elections

In an interview with NPR aired on May 11, 2026, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado — speaking from Washington, D.C. — said she plans to return to Venezuela by the end of the year to push for free and fair presidential elections. Machado, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her pro-democracy work, acknowledged that her earlier promises to return 'in weeks' had not materialized over 100 days after Maduro's removal. She said elections would be 'the first order of business' under the guidance of President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Machado described the 2024 election outcome — in which opposition actas showed her candidate Edmundo González won with approximately 67% of the vote — as validated proof that Venezuelans want democratic change, even under 'extreme and unjust conditions.' She expressed concern that a third of Venezuelans who had emigrated were denied the right to vote in 2024. The interview highlighted the unresolved tension between the Trump administration's pragmatic engagement with the Rodríguez transitional government and the opposition's demand for a genuine democratic transition with Machado's personal return and full electoral participation.