Venezuela’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader, María Corina Machado, vowed to return from exile before the end of 2026 and promised to run for president again during a speech on Saturday.

Speaking in Panama City alongside fellow opposition leaders, Machado said her political coalition remained committed to a democratic transition “through free and fair presidential elections” that would allow “all Venezuelans inside and outside the country vote.”

“I will be a candidate, but there may be others, of course,” Machado told reporters. “I would love to compete with everyone, with anyone who wants to be a candidate.”

Machado, who has been living in exile since December after emerging from nearly a year in hiding inside Venezuela, said any credible presidential vote would require extensive preparation.

She estimated that an election meeting democratic standards would take between seven and nine months to organize, including the appointment of neutral election officials, updated voter rolls and guarantees allowing opposition candidates to compete freely.

The declaration comes months after the Trump administration captured Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolás Maduro, in a January raid and began work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, previously Maduro’s vice president, who has expanded U.S. access to the country’s oil.

Machado became the most prominent challenger to Maduro in recent years but was barred by the government from running in the disputed 2024 presidential election.

The Nobel Committee honored Machado in October 2025 “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights” in her home country with an award that she later dedicated to President Donald Trump, whose supporters hoped would win the prize. During a visit to the White House in January Machado gifted Trump her prize.

The administration has not indicated whether it would support her proposed run for the presidency.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!