Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returned to Caracas in a surprise move that could pose the biggest test yet to acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s political opening and the Trump administration’s strategy for post-Maduro Venezuela.

“I’m here, with you,” Machado posted on X on Sunday, confirming her return after months abroad. She gave no details on how she entered Venezuela, but her party shared photos and videos of her arriving at a church in Lara state, where emotional supporters embraced her and said, “She will be the next president of Venezuela.”

Machado’s team earlier thanked President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their support, signaling an effort to underscore her ties with Washington even as her return risks complicating the administration’s Venezuela strategy.

Trump, speaking to reporters as he left the White House, said he didn’t know about Machado’s return. Other U.S. officials, including her longtime ally, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, celebrated the move, with Salazar calling it “the beginning of a new chapter.”

The move confronts Rodríguez with a difficult choice over how much political space to give her most formidable rival.

Her government has allowed politicians, activists and journalists who spent years in exile to return, including some of Machado’s closest allies. Allowing Machado to organize and campaign freely would mark the most consequential expansion yet of that opening. Detaining her or restricting her activities, in contrast, could put pressure on Washington to respond.

Machado’s ability to mobilize supporters “adds a new layer of complexity” for the interim government, said David Smilde, a sociology professor and Venezuela expert at Tulane University in New Orleans.

“The big absent voice so far this year has been the voice of the Venezuelan people,” Smilde said. Machado’s return, he added, could spur greater public mobilization and demands for a return to democracy.

An official from Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Machado had a 61% positive rating in the latest AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg News. The same poll showed her leading Rodríguez 52% to 19% in a hypothetical presidential election.

Washington has prioritized economic stability and rebuilding Venezuela’s oil industry alongside a gradual political transition, while relying on Rodríguez to maintain order and negotiate changes to the country’s political institutions. The approach has culminated in a major energy agreement giving the U.S. access to as much as 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s crude reserves.

The political process has largely advanced without Machado. U.S.-backed talks between Rodríguez’s government and a faction of the opposition ended their latest round this week with agreements to begin reviewing laws governing political disqualifications, political parties and public demonstrations, among other measures.

Opposition negotiator Dinorah Figuera also met Rodríguez at the Miraflores presidential palace following the talks, a striking image of engagement between the government and some of its political opponents even as Machado remained outside the process.

Machado had been signaling that her return was imminent. In a recent interview with the New York Times, she suggested she intended to mobilize Venezuelans ahead of eventual elections.

She has also criticized parts of the U.S. transition strategy, including the energy deal with businessman Alejandro Betancourt, potentially complicating an agreement that has become central to the administration’s plans for Venezuela.

The timing may also be significant. She is returning less than two weeks before U.S. midterm elections that could shift control of Congress and subject the administration’s Venezuela policy to greater scrutiny.

Machado’s arrival follows fresh opposition protests in several Venezuelan cities demanding a presidential election date. Authorities briefly detained at least seven people and blocked a route ahead of demonstrations in Caracas, testing the limits of the government’s political opening.

Machado went into hiding shortly after the disputed 2024 presidential election, saying she feared for her life as Nicolás Maduro’s government targeted opposition leaders. She left Venezuela late last year in a clandestine operation to collect her Nobel Peace Prize.

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(With assistance from María Paula Mijares Torres.)

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