Venezuelan Opposition Leader Machado Returns Home After Nearly a Year in Exile

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado returned to her country on Sunday after nearly a year in exile, drawing cheering crowds of thousands as she traveled to Caracas.

Supporters lined highways, toll plazas and city streets, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting slogans such as "freedom" as Machado moved toward the capital in a convoy of cars and motorcycles.

Dressed in her signature white T-shirt and blue jeans, Machado leaned out of a sunroof as the convoy entered Caracas. "This country is giving lessons to everyone," she shouted to the crowds.

Earlier in the day, in the town of Guacara, the AFP news agency reported seeing her sing the national anthem in a plaza filled with flag-waving supporters who cheered her homecoming.

Machado left Venezuela last December to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for her work promoting democracy in a country run by an autocratic government. She was facing arrest by the regime of then-President Nicolas Maduro. She sought refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas and was smuggled out of the country with help from the United States.

At first she could not come back, fearing she would be detained by the authorities. Maduro has since been ousted and arrested in an operation led by the United States. Following that, Machado gave her Nobel medal to US President Donald Trump.

Even so, her long absence was partly linked to the Trump administration. Rather than throwing its weight behind Machado, Washington chose to back interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

Machado has said she encountered travel restrictions and flight cancellations. She attributes these partly to Trump's concern that her presence in Venezuela might inflame tensions during a period of transition, and partly to interference by Rodriguez.