// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado returns after months in exile
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has returned home to a fraught political landscape after more than 10 months in exile.
"I am here. With you," Machado wrote on X on Sunday. Her return comes after repeated prior efforts to re-enter the country came to no avail.
In January, a month after Machado left Venezuela on a speedboat under cover of darkness to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, the US seized her opponent, President Nicolás Maduro.
The Trump administration then backed his deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, as leader and she was sworn in as interim president, later signing an oil deal which granted very favourable terms to the US.
Machado was photographed on Sunday attending Mass at a church in the Venezuelan state of Lara, surrounded by supporters hugging her and clasping her hands.
Her ally, former presidential candidate Edmundo González, confirmed her arrival, writing in a statement: "I am thrilled to announce to you that our leader, my dear María Corina, is on Venezuelan soil."
"Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!" González said.
He added that he will soon join Machado in Venezuela to advance the country "toward freedom".
An advisor to Machado said in September that over the previous few weeks Machado had attempted seven times to return to Venezuela, but was denied each time. There have been reports that the US was involved in delaying her return, which it has denied.
It's unclear what Machado plans to do next now that she's back, but she has previously said she would run for president again if an election were held. Her ability to return to her country was always contingent on approval from the Trump administration, which it appears has now been granted.