Nobel laureate returns home after quake: “My duty”

TT

Published 11.41

 

María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition politician and recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, in Panama City in May. Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP/TT

The time has come to return home, says peace laureate María Corina Machado after the earthquake in Venezuela.

The opposition leader left Venezuela in December 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. Before that, she had been in hiding for a year, after the highly disputed election that ended with Nicolás Maduro being sworn in for a third term as Venezuelan president.

But now it is time to return, Machado tells Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” After the devastating earthquakes in the country, it is her “duty” to support the Venezuelan people at home.

“We must be together, to embrace each other and grieve together,” she says.

Machado has served as a unifying force for Venezuela’s divided opposition to authoritarian Nicolás Maduro. After Maduro’s arrest, her future role in Venezuela is unclear.