South America · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Claudia Macero Returns From Exile to Venezuela as Supporters Demand Maria Corina Machado
Claudia Macero returns to Caracas after more than a year in exile. Macero is Machado's communications chief and close ally, boosting return expectations.
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6 of 9 outlets skipped it: machado’s communications chief Claudia Macero returned from exile.
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Macero returns to Caracas
Claudia Macero returned from exile to Venezuela on Sunday and landed at the airport that serves Caracas, where hundreds of cheering people greeted her.
Macero told supporters, "It is time to come home. It is time to recover the country," and she said she did not know when Maria Corina Machado herself might return.
Macero said, "Maria Corina is trying every day to come home," and she added that "Evidently there is a very difficult process but this will come to an end."
AFP reported that Machado had been denied permission to return following the US capture of Nicolas Maduro in January and the installation of a US-aligned government, while Macero described her own return as paving the way.
AFP also said Macero ran press operations for Machado and was one of seven Machado associates who took refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas in March 2024 and later turned up in the United States after a secretive operation.
Rallies demand elections
Hundreds of supporters of Maria Corina Machado took to the streets in Caracas on Sunday, riding motorcycles through the capital’s main avenues, honking their horns and waving Venezuelan flags. Flavio Valentini, a Vente Venezuela activist in Caracas, told the crowd, "This is not a matter of parties or politics," and he said, "This is a movement for the people and by the people." The protests spread to state capitals including Valencia, Maracaibo and Merida as the weekend demonstrations coincided with Macero’s return to Venezuela.
Anthony Romero, a leader for Vente Venezuela in Caracas, said, "We hope this transition process leads us to presidential elections and consolidates a free, democratic country that will be the main ally of the United States," while the government denied blocking Machado’s return. The rallies also demanded presidential elections that could lead to a democratic transition, with DW saying supporters chanted for a clear timeline for presidential elections in 2027.
Pressure on transition
Vente Venezuela supporters framed Macero’s return as part of a push for Machado’s safe return and for an electoral timetable, with the marches on Sunday demanding presidential elections in 2027. Claudia Macero told supporters after landing at Maiquetía airport, "I am paving the way," and she said, "I am returning to Venezuela to give others confidence that it is time to return, it is time to come home, to recover this country." Macero said, "There are still political prisoners, still blocked media, still people with legal processes," and she insisted that Machado was trying to return every day.
Le Parisien reported that Machado said on Saturday during a virtual forum, "I will return very soon to my country," and it quoted her supporters calling for her return in Barinas and other cities. The protests came as the interim government, led by Delcy Rodriguez, told the United Nations General Assembly that Venezuela would hold elections as part of a transition to "full democracy," while the sources also described Washington’s role in shaping the transition and Machado’s inability to return since January.