An alliance of Venezuelan opposition parties on Sunday reaffirmed exiled Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado as its leader, increasing pressure on interim authorities to allow her return.
Ms. Machado has been in exile since covertly leaving Venezuela in 2025 to receive her Nobel Peace Prize.
The coalition’s announcement — part of a new “Grand National Agreement” — comes amid a third round of political transition talks between an opposition faction and the interim government, following the US ouster of longtime leader Nicolas Maduro in January. Machado, who is currently living in Panama and not leading those talks, has said she will not interfere in the process, which has the backing of Washington. Dinorah Figuera, the opposition delegation’s leader in talks with the interim government, said Friday she was working to ensure that the negotiations lead to elections. She has tried at least seven times to return home but has been blocked by Venezuelan authorities, according to her party. “I have always been grateful to the president of the United States for opening a door to progress toward freedom, democracy and true sovereignty,” she said. Machado has not been invited to participate, though she has said she will not obstruct the process.
Earlier reporting noted: The coalition’s announcement comes as one Opposition faction engages in political transition talks with the interim government, following the U.S. ouster of longtime leader Nicolas Maduro. Earlier reporting noted: The agreement comes as the government and a faction of the opposition hold their third round of U.S.-backed talks in Caracas.
“We are at the beginning of a new era. We will finally make the liberal democratic republic a reality…
Members of the opposition’s Unitary Democratic Platform “recognize and support the leadership of Maria Corina Machado,” according to the text of their agreement, presented after meetings in Caracas. “We are now going to move forward with one of the initiatives that I consider the most powerful, most potent and most necessary, and that will be recognized around the world: our great agreement for rebuilding the republic,” said Machado, who participated virtually. Venezuela will be free,” Machado said.
