{"id":12498,"date":"2026-10-30T06:01:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12498"},"modified":"2026-10-30T06:01:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:01:22","slug":"venezuelas-machado-lauds-trump-for-freedom-urges-2027-elections-elections-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=12498","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela\u2019s Machado lauds Trump for \u2018freedom\u2019, urges 2027 elections | Elections News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nobel Peace Prize winner returns to Venezuela from exile, pressing for elections and criticising a controversial US oil deal with Caracas.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 30 Oct 2026<\/span>30 Oct 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has thanked US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration for opening the \u201cfloodgate to freedom\u201d by abducting President Nicolas Maduro in January.<\/p>\n

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate on Thursday also called for elections to be held in Venezuela next year, in her first public remarks since returning from more than 10 months in exile.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThanks to their vision, their courage, and their action on January 3, the floodgate to freedom has been opened,\u201d Machado told a news conference in Caracas, naming Trump, his administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n

Rubio \u201chas set out a sequence of events aimed at moving toward a democratic transition that makes clear the holding of presidential elections in 2027\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

Machado has praised Trump before, presenting the president with her Nobel medal<\/a> \u2013 a prize he feverishly coveted for himself in 2025.<\/p>\n

A longtime activist, Machado fled Venezuela for Oslo in December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. On Thursday, she said she had come home to \u201cmobilise society\u201d. US special forces veterans with an organisation called Grey Bull Rescue helped Machado escape by boat after she spent a year in hiding from Maduro\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n

Since Maduro\u2019s abduction in January, the country has been ruled by his former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

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Machado greets crowds of supporters in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 25, 2026 [Jesus Vargas\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Machado was greeted by cheering supporters as she travelled in her motorcade after she returned to Venezuela<\/a> on Sunday. Rodriguez voiced distaste for the fanfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show could have been avoided \u2013 the airports are right here,\u201d she said on state television.<\/p>\n

When asked about a possible meeting with Rodriguez, the opposition leader said she had not received any message from her or from Washington.<\/p>\n

Shortly before Machado\u2019s statements on Thursday, Rodriguez assured the nation that elections would be held in Venezuela \u201cwith the world as witness\u201d but did not specify a date.<\/p>\n

Her return comes just weeks after a controversial US oil deal that will see Venezuela hand over 20 percent of its vast oil reserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis agreement does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society wants,\u201d Machado said, criticising the deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Nobel Peace Prize winner returns to Venezuela from exile, pressing for elections and criticising a controversial US oil deal with Caracas. Published On 30 Oct 202630 Oct 2026 Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has thanked US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration for opening the \u201cfloodgate to freedom\u201d by abducting President Nicolas Maduro in January. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t