U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Monday that the United States told Delcy Rodríguez’s regime “weeks and weeks ago” that opposition leader María Corina Machado should be allowed to return to Venezuela.
Rubio told reporters on a conference call that the United States only discouraged Machado’s return in the days after the double earthquake that struck the country on June 24 this year, and explained that, in the White House’s view, the priority at that time had to be the delivery of humanitarian and emergency aid to the country.
The secretary of state shared some details about his conversations with Venezuelan officials, who guaranteed that Machado could return without trouble. “We spoke to the interim authorities and just said, ‘Look, our expectation is that she’s a Venezuelan, she belongs in her country. That’s the country she’s from. She should be allowed to return. She should be allowed to return unperturbed’. They told us that she could fly into the airport if she wanted to, and we communicated that to her team. So she decided to do it now.”
Rubio also addressed claims that the U.S. had been hindering Machado’s attempts to return to her home country. The opposition leader had tried to go back on at least seven occasions since early September, via different routes. According to Rubio’s version of events, there was only one time when he thought her return would not be a good idea, and that was right after the earthquakes. Instead, the state secretary blamed third countries for the problems that Machado encountered every time she tried to go back to Venezuela.
Just a few days ago, on October 9, Rubio met in Washington with Dinorah Figuera, the head of the delegation representing the opposition designated by the White House to negotiate with the Delcy Rodríguez regime. After that meeting, both Rubio and Figuera declined to answer a question about when they would support Machado’s return to Venezuela. They also failed to answer a question about a potential date for general elections in Venezuela.
The Machado “show”
In Venezuela, Chavismo tried to minimize the impact of Machado’s triumphant homecoming on Sunday, when streets and highways filled up with cheering crowds to greet her as she slowly made her way to Caracas. The government called it a “show.”
Rodríguez said that Machado “could have saved herself the show and returned through the country’s airports.” Queried by reporters outside the military hospital of Caracas during a visit on Monday, Rodríguez said that “there must be an end to politics as a show, because politics is a very serious thing. It affects the lives of citizens, because any decision we make has an impact on the lives of the population.”
The Sunday march brought the capital to a standstill, and no law enforcement agency stepped in to stop Machado supporters from demonstrating. It was a show of force by the opposition the likes of which had not been seen at least since the 2024 campaign. The demonstration contradicted earlier predictions that Machado could be arrested if she returned home. Delcy Rodríguez said on Monday that there is no political persecution in Venezuela.
Earlier this year, in her first interview as interim president, Rodríguez had insisted that Machado would have to answer to the justice system over claims that she asked for sanctions against Venezuela. At this point, Chavismo seems to merely be expecting some form of repentance. Machado has also changed her outlook, and her spokespeople say she is ready to meet with Rodríguez in order to reach deals.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition