Venezuelan opposition leader Machado says govt blocking her return

CARACAS: Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado accused the government Monday of impeding her return to the country as it reels from last week’s twin earthquakes that left more than 1,700 people dead.

Machado has been in exile since December when she managed a dramatic escape from Venezuela to receive her Nobel prize in Oslo.

In a message posted on X from Panama, the opposition figure accused Caracas of impeding her return by shutting down the South American country’s airspace.

Machado said in her video message that she wanted to return to accompany Venezuelans in “these heart-wrenching hours”.

But the government had closed “commercial airspace of Venezuela to stop my entering,” she said.

“They had to reverse it, but they have threatened those who want to facilitate my return.”

The international airport in Maiquetia, which serves Caracas, was closed because of earthquake damage.

It has been partially reopened for humanitarian flights, but the airports of the central city of Valencia and the eastern city Maracaibo are operating for international flights.

The double quakes occurred six months after then-president Nicolas Maduro was captured in a US military operation. His vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, is now interim president and governs under pressure from Washington.

The opposition led by Machado claimed victory for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in the 2024 presidential elections, after which Maduro declared his reelection despite claims of fraud.

Machado announced in May from Panama her determination to negotiate a democratic transition with the interim government in Venezuela. Rodriguez’s administration has not responded to her demands.