Tuesday, June 30th 2026 - 07:41 UTC
Machado left Venezuela in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and has repeatedly called for the support of US President Donald Trump to achieve a change of government
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday accused the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez of closing the country's airspace to prevent her return, as Venezuela copes with the emergency caused by the June 24 twin earthquake, which has left more than 1,700 dead and some 5,000 injured. “They want to block my return to Venezuela,” Machado said in a video posted on social media, in which she said she was in Panama.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in exile since late 2025, said she intended to travel to her country to support the quake's victims and accused the authorities of “mobilizing the state apparatus” to stop her, including, she said, the cancellation of commercial flights. “This is not about me; we are thousands who want to be together in a country in mourning,” she said. In a later statement she said the government had been forced to reverse the measure, but had “threatened those who want to facilitate” her return. She also denounced that the authorities were restricting the flow of information about the scale of the disaster.
