Machado ready to meet Venezuela leader after shock return

CARACAS: Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate, said on Monday she was ready to sit down with the country's interim president after her surprise return from exile.

Machado landed in Caracas on Sunday after nearly a year in exile, drawing jubilant crowds in a direct challenge to the US-backed government.

Thousands of people lined highways, toll plazas and city streets waving Venezuelan flags and chanting "Liberty!" as a beaming Machado entered the capital in a convoy of cars and motorbikes.

Wearing her trademark white T-shirt and blue jeans, she leaned through the sunroof of a vehicle to wave to the crowds and shake hands with supporters.

On Monday, Machado extended an olive branch to interim president Delcy Rodriguez, saying she was open to talks with the woman who served as deputy to her nemesis, president Nicolas Maduro, before his capture by the US.

Machado "has expressed her willingness to sit down not only with Delcy (Rodríguez), but with whoever she has to sit down with, before the country, with total transparency, and with an agenda," Claudia Macero, her spokesperson, told local radio Union Radio.

The European Union hailed her comeback.

"We trust that the Venezuelan authorities and all political actors will seize this opportunity to advance an inclusive, Venezuelan-led dialogue towards free and fair elections," EU foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.

HOME AT LAST

Machado's return puts Venezuela's most influential opposition figure back at the center of the country's tumultuous politics.

"Maria, if you come back, my daughter has to come back!" a supporter shouted at her on Sunday, referring to one of the millions of Venezuelans who have fled repression and a moribund economy.

Machado slipped out of the country last December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending nearly a year in hiding.

Since then the 59-year-old had made at least seven unsuccessful attempts to return to Venezuela, according to sources in her party.

She returns to a country much changed – nine months ago, Maduro was captured in an extraordinary US military operation and jailed in the United States.

But to the democratic opposition's dismay, his deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over as interim president, with Washington's blessing.

Since then, Machado had been forced to watch from exile in Panama as US-backed talks on a political transition took place without her.

The interim government has promised elections, but so far has not set a date.

Machado has repeatedly praised US President Donald Trump for launching the risky operation, and even gifted him the Nobel medal she received.

Trump has repeatedly expressed satisfaction with Rodriguez as she fulfills key US demands, particularly on granting access to Venezuelan oil.

Trump said Sunday he was not aware of Machado's return, adding: "but I think she's a very nice woman. She gave me her Nobel prize, so how can I say anything else?"

"We're doing very well in Venezuela," he said.

HUGE OIL RESERVES

Last week, thousands demonstrated in Caracas and other cities, demanding Machado's return and elections.

Many leaders from her Vente Venezuela party have recently returned from exile that was prompted by a post-election purge that left 28 dead and resulted in more than 2,400 arrests, including dozens of Machado's associates.

Her party wants elections in 2027 and for her to be allowed to run, unlike the last presidential vote.

Venezuela sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves, but its current production of one million barrels of crude per day falls far short of the three million it averaged decades ago, due to years of corruption and poor management.

Rodriguez has granted Washington access to a huge chunk of the country's crude reserves and signed agreements with foreign companies to look for, produce and export oil and gas.