Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returns to Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Corina Machado says she has returned to country.

She left the country in 2025, months before US forces captured Venezuela's long-time president Nicolás Maduro in January this year.

The move could inflame tensions with Donald Trump, who since Mr Maduro's removal has repeatedly expressed support for interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has returned to the South American nation after nearly a year outside the country.

"I'm here. With you all," the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Ms Machado wrote on social media early on Sunday local time.

Ms Machado's press team shared images of her in central-western Lara state, in the Plaza del Pueblo de Santa Rosa, where she appeared at a church.

Her return risks straining ties with the US administration, which she has sought to cultivate as an ally since before it removed president Nicolás Maduro from power in January.

Reacting to the news of her arrival, US President Donald Trump said he "did not know about that" and expressed hope she was safe.

Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed support for interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Mr Maduro's former deputy, and hailed deals on oil production and other business ventures by US companies in the South American country.

Mr Trump said in September it was too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela.

International energy firms committed last month to expanding projects in the country in a signing ceremony overseen by Ms Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Ms Machado has said only a "serious, democratic government" can provide the stability needed by investors.

In June, she said she would do whatever it took to come home and help the survivors of devastating twin earthquakes that month, which killed at least 6,500 people and left thousands missing.

Ms Machado was barred by Mr Maduro's government from exiting Venezuela but secretly left in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending more than a year living mostly in hiding.

Her desire to return had caused friction in Washington, with US officials asking her to delay her trip, Reuters reported in June.

Ms Machado did not disclose more details about her current location, or how she returned.

A faction of the opposition and the interim government held their latest session of talks this month, which aim to remake the top court and electoral council, among other goals, ahead of eventual elections.

They do not include Ms Machado's political movement.

Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Ms Machado's movement who has been living in Spain, confirmed her return in his own post and said he would soon join her.

Former president Mr Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are currently behind bars in New York as they await trial on a series of charges, including alleged drug trafficking.

This month, the pair were hit with an additional count of conspiracy to commit torture, with US prosecutors alleging they used such means to maintain their control of Venezuela.

Mr Maduro and Ms Flores deny the allegations.