Machado calls for 2027 Venezuelan election after returning from exile

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado called for a presidential election in 2027 on Thursday, making her first public remarks since returning from nearly a year in exile.

At a news conference in Caracas, Machado said she had returned to mobilize Venezuelans and described the country’s democratic transition as “irreversible, organised, pacific.” She said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had outlined a transition process that includes a presidential vote next year, although neither Washington nor Venezuela’s interim government has announced an election date.

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said shortly before Machado’s appearance that Venezuela would hold constitutionally mandated elections under a renewed electoral authority and with international observers, but she did not provide a timetable. Machado said she had received no invitation to meet Rodríguez and would not personally join negotiations between the government and other opposition representatives, though she expressed support for electoral reforms.

Machado returned on Sunday to crowds of supporters after several unsuccessful attempts to re-enter Venezuela. She had left in December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. She praised the Trump administration for the January US operation that captured former President Nicolás Maduro, while criticizing a subsequent oil agreement between Washington and Caracas as insufficiently transparent.

Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, became interim president following his removal and has since worked with Washington on political reforms and the release of prisoners.