Panama City (Panama), 24 May (LaPresse/AP) – Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado has announced that she intends to run for president again and return to her home country by the end of 2026. Machado’s statements, made during a meeting in Panama with several Venezuelan opposition leaders, come more than four months after the White House’s surprising decision to sideline her and work instead with a staunch supporter of Venezuela’s ruling party, following the US military’s capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro. Machado has been in exile since December, when she emerged from 11 months in hiding somewhere in Venezuela and travelled to Norway, where she was awarded the Nobel Prize. She told reporters in Panama City that she and the other opposition leaders gathered there remain committed to a democratic transition “through free and fair presidential elections, in which all Venezuelans inside and outside the country can vote”. However, it is unclear when Venezuela will hold presidential elections.
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