Opposition Leader Machado Denied Entry to Venezuela

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was denied entry into Venezuela three times on Tuesday as she attempted to return to the country, according to a senior adviser.

Machado, who has repeatedly vowed to return home, made several attempts to enter Venezuela in recent weeks. On Tuesday, she tried to enter by both air and sea, but all three attempts were turned away, her senior adviser David Smolansky told CNN.

Opposition Leader Machado Denied Entry to Venezuela(News Central TV) — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado looks on during a press conference on Capitol Hill with members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2026. Kylie Cooper/Reuters/File.

The attempts came as acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez was in New York for the UN General Assembly, where she held her first meeting with US President Donald Trump. Trump has backed Rodríguez to lead Venezuela following the US raid that captured former President Nicolas Maduro in January.

Machado, a longtime critic of the Maduro government, left Venezuela in December to travel to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after spending more than a year in hiding.

Maduro is currently being held in a New York prison, where he is awaiting trial on charges related to drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption.

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Chinomso Sunday

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