Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado tried to return to Venezuela from Panama three times this week and, on all these occasions, was prevented, the Nobel Peace team told the agency EFE.
© Lusa
23/09/2026
by
Lusa
“They prevented her from flying from Panama. She remains there without being able to leave”, denounced on Tuesday the team of the former deputy, who left Venezuela last December to receive in Norway the Nobel Peace Prize medal, after having remained about a year in hiding to avoid being detained.
With these three new attempts, there are already “at least seven” times Machado tried to return to Venezuela, the team indicated.
One of the most recent attempts occurred after the double earthquake that struck Venezuela last June 24.
On 29 June, the opposition leader accused the Venezuelan government of having closed the commercial airspace to prevent its return to Panama City when planning to travel to Venezuela to support earthquake victims.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Administration of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who maintains a close relationship with Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez, will have prevented Machado from returning to the South American country.
However, subsequently, U.S. Undersecretary of International Narcotics Affairs, Cartwright Weiland, assured at a Congressional hearing that they would not prevent Machado's return to Venezuela.
“He is a Venezuelan citizen and has the right to return,” Weiland said on July 15.
Rodríguez and Trump held an unprecedented meeting on Tuesday in New York, where they are both attending the United Nations General Assembly. The content of the dialogue has not been disclosed.