After a year in exile, Venezuela's opposition leader returns, ready to negotiate with the government.
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leader → return → government
The EU welcomes her and calls for free and fair elections.
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EU → welcome → elections
María Corina Machado says she is willing to talk with Delcy Rodríguez after returning to Venezuela.
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she → say → Venezuela
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado said on Monday that she is ready to meet the country's interim president following her unexpected return from exile.
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she → say → exile
Machado landed in Caracas on Sunday after almost a year in exile, where she was greeted by a crowd of supporters in a direct challenge to the US-backed government.
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she → land → government
Thousands of people gathered along roads, toll booths and streets in the capital, waving Venezuelan flags and shouting "Freedom!" as a smiling Machado entered Caracas accompanied by a convoy of cars and motorbikes.
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Machado → gather → cars
Dressed in her usual white T-shirt and jeans, she leaned out through the sunroof of a vehicle to greet the crowd and shake hands with her supporters.
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she → dress → supporters
On Monday, Machado reached out to the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and signalled her willingness to engage in talks with the former vice-president of her main political rival, Nicolás Maduro, prior to his capture by the United States.
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Machado → reach → States
Machado "has said she is willing to sit down not only with Delcy (Rodríguez), but with whoever she needs to sit down with, before the country, with full transparency and with an agenda", her spokesperson Claudia Macero told local broadcaster Unión Radio.
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spokesperson → say → Radio
The European Union welcomed her return: "We trust that the Venezuelan authorities and all political actors will seize this opportunity to move towards an inclusive dialogue, led by Venezuelans themselves, that leads to free and fair elections," said the EU foreign affairs spokesperson, Anouar El Anouni.
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spokesperson → welcome → elections
Machado's return once again places the most influential figure in Venezuela's opposition at the heart of the country's turbulent politics.
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return → place → politics
"María, if you come back, my daughter has to come back too!" a supporter shouted on Sunday, referring to one of the millions of Venezuelans who have left the country to escape repression and a stagnant economy.
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who → come → repression
Machado slipped out of Venezuela clandestinely last December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending almost a year in hiding.
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Machado → slip → hiding
Since then, the 59-year-old leader had tried to return to the country at least seven times without success, according to party sources.
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leader → try → sources
She is now coming back to a very different Venezuela.
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She → come → Venezuela
Nine months ago, Maduro was captured in an extraordinary US military operation and imprisoned in the United States.
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Maduro → capture → States
Yet, to the disappointment of the democratic opposition, his vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, took over as interim president with Washington's backing.
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president → take → backing
From her exile in Panama, Machado had been forced to follow from afar the US-backed talks on political transition, in which she did not take part.
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she → force → part
The interim government has promised to hold elections, although it has not yet set a date.
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it → promise → date
Machado has repeatedly praised US President Donald Trump for ordering the risky military operation, and even gave him the medal from her Nobel Prize.
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Machado → praise → Prize
Trump, for his part, has repeatedly voiced his satisfaction with Rodríguez, who is meeting key US demands, especially regarding access to Venezuela's oil.
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who → voice → oil
On Sunday, Trump said he had been unaware of Machado's return, but added: "I think she is a very nice woman.
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she → say → return
She gave me her Nobel Prize, so what else can I say?"
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I → give → what
"We are doing very well in Venezuela," he said.
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he → do → Venezuela
Huge oil reserves
Last week, thousands of people demonstrated in Caracas and other cities to demand Machado's return and the holding of elections.
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thousands → demonstrate → elections
Many leaders of her party, Vente Venezuela, have also recently returned from exile, to which they were driven by the post-election crackdown that left 28 people dead and more than 2,400 detained, including dozens of Machado's associates.
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2,400 → return → associates
Her party is calling for elections to be held in 2027 and for Machado to be allowed to stand as a candidate, something she was barred from doing in the last presidential election.
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she → call → election
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves.
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Venezuela → have → reserves
Yet current output, at one million barrels a day, is far below the three million it was pumping decades ago, after years of corruption and mismanagement.
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it → pump → corruption
Rodríguez has granted Washington access to a significant share of the country's crude reserves and has signed agreements with foreign companies to explore, produce and export oil and gas.
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Rodríguez → grant → oil
The Aporia
