Machado said Washington sidelined the opposition despite her movement’s claim to Venezuela’s 2024 presidential victory, which came amid arrests, beatings and imprisonment of her supporters.
Unable to return since leaving Venezuela last year to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Machado said she still wants to go back and run in a new election.
The dispute underscores a split between Venezuela’s most popular opposition leader and the U.S.-backed leadership now governing after 27 years of chavista rule.
Can Venezuela's fragile transition hold when the exiled opposition leader returns home to reclaim the presidency she was denied?
As prisoners are freed but regime enforcers remain untouched, is this new era a true democratic shift or just a rebranding for oil?
Venezuela 2026: Mass Protests, U.S.-Backed Interim Rule, and the Battle Over Democratic Transition
Overview
After the U.S. military captured Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, Venezuela’s highest court installed Delcy Rodríguez as interim president, but her legal mandate soon expired without renewal. As U.S. President Donald Trump prioritized oil deals and delayed elections, public frustration grew, leading to mass protests demanding a clear electoral timeline. U.S.-backed talks secured some political prisoner releases and allowed exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado to return, sparking a nationwide movement for elections. Meanwhile, the U.S. maintained transactional ties with Rodríguez’s government, rewarding security cooperation and enforcing compliance through economic and military pressure, while sidelining Machado from formal negotiations.