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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was greeted by tens of thousands of cheering supporters as she made her way by car to Caracas on Sunday night, after she arrived home following several failed return attempts which have strained her ties with US President Donald Trump's administration, Reuters reported.
"This country is giving lessons to everyone," she shouted as her convoy entered the capital, leaning out of the sunroof to shake hands and hug raucous supporters.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, who was prevented from challenging deposed leader Nicolas Maduro for the presidency in 2024, has been out of the country for 10 months and spent the previous year in hiding following the disputed election.
On Sunday morning, Machado appeared at a church in western Lara state and was greeted by bystanders who sang the national anthem and shouted "liberty!" as she left in an SUV, a Reuters witness said.
She then traveled to the capital in a journey that took eight hours because of crowds. By the time she neared Caracas, festooned in rosaries handed to her by followers, the highway was all but blocked by cheering supporters.
"For the reunion of every family, for freedom of every political prisoner, for the freedom of Venezuela," she wrote on social media.
Machado's return was coordinated with the US, Panamanian and Colombian governments, according to a person briefed directly on her movements, who added Trump approved her return and was kept informed about it, Reuters reported.