Democrats seize on Machado’s return to push for Venezuela elections

Democratic lawmakers urged the Venezuelan government to hold elections following opposition leader María Corina Machado’s recent return to the country after nearly a year in exile.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Machado’s return to Venezuela “welcome news” in a statement shared to social platform X Monday.

“This is an encouraging step forward,” Shaheen said. “The Trump Administration and the Delcy Rodríguez regime must now ensure her safety and swiftly advance toward elections and a democratic transition.” 

Machado, who announced her return Sunday, has pushed for the country to hold elections next year and indicated she would run for the country’s top office. She leads the center-right Vente Venezuela party, countering the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela — which has held onto power for almost three decades.

“I will be president when the time comes. But it doesn’t matter. That should be decided in elections by the Venezuelan people,” she said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” in February. 

President Trump backed Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, a member of the ruling party, to lead the country after his administration captured leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife earlier this year. 

Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her efforts to prove her fellow opposition leader Edmundo González was the verified winner of the country’s 2024 presidential election.

She later presented the award to Trump, who has long coveted this honor, during a meeting at the White House in January. 

Trump noted this gift in response to a question from CNN’s Julia Benbrook on Machado’s return from Venezuela, which he was unaware of at the time of the exchange.

“I don’t know anything about it, but I think she’s a very nice woman,” he said. “She gave me her Nobel Prize, so how can I say anything else? And I hope she’s safe.” 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) heralded Machado’s return as a “moment long awaited by the people of Venezuela” in a Tuesday X post. 

“When I met with [Machado], we talked about the importance of a democratic Venezuela, and the need for free and fair elections,” Schumer wrote. “Venezuelans deserve the right to elect their president—there is no time to waste.” 

In a Monday post, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) called the opposition leader’s return “welcome news that should decidedly move the country toward a clear path to free & fair elections next year.”

Republican lawmakers also celebrated Machado’s return and urged Venezuelan leadership to guarantee her safety. 

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) called the opposition leader the “legitimate leader of the Venezuelan people” in a Monday X post. 

“Her safety & wellbeing is of the utmost importance,” he wrote. “Delcy & Jorge’s pathetic dictatorship will stop at nothing to undermine and intimidate her. They will be held directly responsible for any harm that comes María Corina’s way.”

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) urged in a Sunday evening post that Machado’s “safety must be guaranteed at all times.”

“Today’s event is a sign that the transition process is advancing, and that freedom and democracy in Venezuela are closer than ever,” Díaz-Balart wrote. “The Venezuelan people are not alone.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called Machado’s return a “pivotal moment” for the U.S. and noted Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s efforts under the Trump administration to transition the country into a democracy. 

“As Secretary Rubio works toward securing free and fair elections, Maria has returned home,” Scott wrote Monday. 

“We are so close to a free, democratic, Venezuela – a nation which acts as a partner to the U.S. and asset to our national and economic security instead of a threat in our own backyard,” he continued. “This is what America First looks like in action.”