US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed that Washington intervened weeks ago with interim authorities in Caracas to ensure Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado could return to the country unhindered.
Speaking to reporters a day after Machado landed in Caracas, Rubio said American diplomats had engaged Venezuelan officials in advance to clear her passage.
"Weeks and weeks ago, we spoke to the interim authorities," Rubio said when asked whether Washington facilitated her return.
Officials explained that Machado "should be allowed to return unperturbed" to her home country where she belongs, he added.
"They told us that she could fly into the airport if she wanted to, and we communicated that to her team."
Washington's leverage on transition
Rubio noted that he discouraged her from returning only after devastating earthquakes in June, when priorities focused on humanitarian relief aid.
Machado's arrival puts Venezuela's most prominent opposition figure back at the centre of its political landscape after seven previous failed attempts to return.
She left the country last December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after months in hiding.
During her absence, President Nicolas Maduro was captured in an extraordinary US military operation, after which his deputy Delcy Rodriguez assumed power as interim leader with Washington's backing.
With Machado observing transition talks from Panama, the US State Department pushed for a reconstituted Supreme Court by the end of this year alongside sweeping reforms to the National Electoral Council—steps deemed vital for credible elections.
Rubio underscored that Washington maintains substantial influence over the process and will hold authorities to strict milestones.
"What if they just try to wait us out for two years? That's not going to happen," Rubio said, warning that anyone attempting to derail the agreed roadmap is doing "great harm to Venezuela."
Rodriguez on Monday dismissed Machado's return as a "show."
