Venezuela’s opposition leader Machado attempts fast return amid quake response

CARACAS – Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado is working to return to the country as soon as possible, according to people with direct knowledge of her plans, a move that could reshape the political landscape as acting President Delcy Rodríguez struggles to respond to the nation’s worst natural disaster in decades.

Machado tried to travel to Curacao from the US last week with the help of private security contractors with the intent to reach Venezuela, according to the people, who asked not to be identified in order to speak publicly.

The security team was already preparing for her on the tiny Dutch island off the Venezuelan coast, but she called off that attempt after US President Donald Trump’s administration made clear she would be travelling at her own risk and without US support, the people said.

Several US officials have told Machado and her team that they’re worried her return could cause a confrontation with the current regime and distract from rescue efforts, the people said.

But she received encouragement from at least one high-level official within the Trump administration, they said.

It’s unclear whether the concerns among the majority of Trump aides involved on Venezuela policy and the failed attempt to travel will delay or cancel her plans.

One hurdle is that Machado lacks a valid Venezuelan passport and requires permission to travel, the people said, so any attempt to re-enter the country without the government’s permission risks a showdown with the authorities in Caracas.

Plans for the private security contractors to protect Machado once she arrived in Venezuela represented another risk for conflict, the people said.

Machado injured her back while secretly fleeing Venezuela for Curacao in December to travel to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

That perilous journey included an overnight trip in a small boat, aided by Grey Bull Rescue, a non-profit group led by US combat veterans that specialises in extractions.

While US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials in Washington have supported Machado eventually returning once an agreement is reached with the Rodríguez administration, the Trump administration has also asked her to be patient, warning that going back too soon could stoke polarisation and instability.

That could be heightened by the stress from last week’s earthquake that has killed more than 1,000 people.

A Machado homecoming would force Rodríguez to choose between embracing her chief political rival in a show of national unity or risking accusations that her government is tightening control over politics during a national emergency.

How Rodríguez handles the crisis is already shaping perceptions of her administration after the US removed Nicolas Maduro in early January.

Machado’s team, the Venezuela Information Ministry, the White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Machado’s return would also test Rodríguez, whose disapproval rating climbed to 59 per cent in May, up almost 12 percentage points from April, according to an AtlasIntel survey conducted for Bloomberg News.

Rodríguez was confronted by angry residents during a visit to a quake-damaged Caracas neighbourhood on the evening of June 26, with people accusing authorities of doing nothing for them and shouting “Get out!”.

Machado, still Venezuela’s most popular political leader, could channel public frustration over the government’s response.

Yet some observers see the crisis as an opportunity for Rodríguez as well.

Allowing Machado to return and participate in relief efforts would represent the clearest sign yet of political opening under the US-backed transition and project an image of national unity after Maduro’s ouster.

On the other hand, the late Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s mentor and the architect of the modern socialist movement in Venezuela, used the crisis of floods that killed thousands in 1999, and his government’s response, to deepen the role of the armed forces and the centralisation of power.

The death toll from the current tragedy has climbed to more than 1,400 after two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck within a minute of each other on June 24.

The temblors injured more than 3,000 people and have triggered more than 430 aftershocks by June 27, according to authorities.

The disaster has already prompted Rodríguez to pursue an unusually pragmatic foreign policy.

Her administration has welcomed aid from the US as well as from governments once viewed as political adversaries, including El Salvador, Chile, Ecuador, Israel, Paraguay and Italy.

That openness, however, has not extended inside Venezuela.

Opposition leaders accused authorities on June 26 of blocking relief efforts by stopping an aid truck in Caracas and harassing volunteers at a collection centre in the city of Cumana in north-eastern Venezuela.

The government has also sought to centralise humanitarian assistance, urging citizens to channel donations and volunteer registrations through official collection centres and state-run platforms while promoting VenApp as the main channel for reporting missing people and coordinating relief. 

Meanwhile, the opposition has built a parallel humanitarian network and missing-person registry showing more than 55,000 people remain unaccounted for.

Authorities have also restricted access to the hardest-hit state of La Guaira, with Rodríguez saying the measure is necessary to protect rescue operations and implement sanitary controls. 

Machado has remained abroad since emerging from hiding and leaving Venezuela in late 2025.

She has vowed to return ever since, particularly after Maduro was captured by US forces in January.

In a video message after the earthquakes, Machado told supporters that “very, very soon, we will embrace one another in Venezuela.”

How Rodríguez handles the disaster – and whether she allows her chief political rival to return during it – could become a defining test of her young administration. BLOOMBERG