Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returns from exile as Trump administration lifts return ban

After being barred from returning to Venezuela for 10 months, opposition leader María Corina Machado arrived in Caracas on January 2025, greeted by jubilant supporters. Her return follows the forced removal of former President Nicolás Maduro by US troops on January 3, 2025, and the subsequent rise of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez. The Trump administration recently signed a 100-year oil concession deal with Venezuela for 65 billion barrels of crude, a move Machado has criticized but now operates under the new political reality.