Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has returned to her country, travelling by road from the western state of Lara to Caracas through streets packed with cheering supporters. The scene was a sharp contrast to December of last year, when she left Venezuela secretly at night to collect the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

Until now, she had been unable to come back. The Venezuelan government blocked her, and so did the Trump administration, which maintained that the "time wasn't right". She is reported to have made at least eight attempts to return by air and by sea before Washington gave its approval.

Supporters lined the route in large numbers. Gregory Noriega, 20, who wore a Vente Venezuela sweatshirt, called her "the indisputable leader of Venezuela" and said her return "represents hope". Eighteen-year-old Hilary described it as a step forward in the electoral process people have awaited since last year, while her friend Manuel said the country was behind Machado to show that "now Venezuela isn't scared".

The country she returns to has changed dramatically. US troops forcibly removed Nicolas Maduro from power on 3 January and flew him to New York, where he faces drugs, weapons and torture charges and has pleaded not guilty. His former vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, took over and has reshaped relations with Washington in ways few expected, after years of hostility under Hugo Chavez and Maduro.

That leaves an awkward situation for Machado, long seen as Washington's preferred alternative to Maduro. The Trump administration has recently signed a major oil deal giving the US a 100-year concession over 65bn barrels of Venezuelan crude. It was struck with a Venezuelan private company, North American Blue Energy Partners, run by businessman Alejandro Betancourt, who has a chequered past. Machado has criticised the deal, but aimed her remarks at Caracas and Betancourt rather than at President Trump, to whom she gave her peace prize. Trump has called Rodriguez "wonderful" and "a terrific person".

Political analyst Beningno Alarcon described Machado's return as the most significant political event since 3 January. He said the reception showed her ability to mobilise support remains intact, giving the opposition a leader present on the ground rather than only in exile. A joint study by the think tanks Polis and Nexo found Venezuela had three times as many street protests in the first nine months of this year as in all of 2025, and that repression of such protests had fallen by more than half.

The return also sits within US-brokered talks between the government and the opposition. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said her "safe return" was "the direct result of the US-supported reconciliation talks". Machado still faces charges ranging from treason to conspiracy of insurrection, which she and her supporters have long dismissed as politically motivated and baseless.

Rodriguez called the return a "show", and state television largely ignored the livestreamed journey. Even so, she needs good relations with Washington to avoid Maduro's fate and has signalled she might be willing to hold talks with Machado. Trump has made clear he expects full submission from her on issues such as energy, and some reports suggest Rubio largely dictates decisions through regular WhatsApp calls with the interim president.

Young supporters in Caracas said their fear of criticising the government is fading. They insisted Machado's return marks an irreversible political transition, something they could barely imagine when she left for Oslo a year ago.