Venezuelan opposition leader Machado returns after months in exile, as doubts over democracy deepen

CARACAS, Venezuela — Opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado reappeared in Venezuela Sunday for the first time since December, returning from exile at a time when doubts about the country’s democratic future — and the role of the U.S. — are growing.

It was her first appearance since the U.S. military deposed the country’s then-President Nicolás Maduro, replacing him with an interim president who has exceeded the time she was authorized to serve, with no election scheduled.

Machado announced her arrival on social media, writing, “I am here. With you.”

Another leading figure in the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo González, wrote on X confirming that Machado had arrived and that he would be next to her “very soon.”

“Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!” he wrote. “You know it, this is until the end.”

On Sunday afternoon, Machado strode into a church in the town of Lara, west of Caracas, to the applause of dozens gathered there as they shook her hand and hugged her, with cellphones aloft to record her return.

“María! María!” someone cried out.

“Welcome to Venezuela!” another person shouted.

Asked by…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world