Venezuelan opposition rallies for Maria Corina Machado's return and elections

Hundreds of supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado have rallied in Caracas and several state capitals to demand her safe return and the holding of presidential elections. The demonstrations took place on Sunday, with activists riding motorcycles through the capital's main avenues and waving Venezuelan flags. Similar gatherings were reported in Valencia, Maracaibo and Merida.

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Participants wore sky blue shirts, the colour associated with Machado's Vente Venezuela party. One activist in Caracas, Flavio Valentini, told the crowd that the movement was not about parties or politics, but about the people. Another party figure, Anthony Romero, said the transition process should lead to presidential elections and a free, democratic country.

Machado has been living in exile for the past nine months, according to the supplied report, and her attempts to return have been repeatedly disrupted. Her party said she made three unsuccessful attempts to return on Monday night. Opposition activists accuse the government of blocking her return, a claim the authorities deny.

The rallies come as Machado remains one of the country's most prominent opposition figures. The protests also reflect the wider political dispute in Venezuela over the legitimacy of elections and the treatment of dissent. The supplied report says the government has been widely accused of stealing elections, jailing dissidents and restricting freedom of speech.

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It also notes that Machado was barred from running in the last presidential election by courts under the control of former President Nicolas Maduro, while her stand-in candidate is widely believed to have won by almost two-thirds of the vote. The latest mobilisation follows a second round of talks backed by the United States between the interim government and the opposition, after which more than three dozen political prisoners were released late last week. That development suggests limited movement in a long-running standoff, even as mistrust remains high.

Machado's supporters are now pressing for a transition that they say would lead to democratic elections and a different political alignment for the country. What remains unclear is whether Machado will be able to return safely, and whether the opposition can turn street mobilisation into a broader political breakthrough. It is also not clear how the government will respond to the latest rallies or whether the recent prisoner releases will lead to further concessions.

For now, the demonstrations underline the continuing contest over Venezuela's political future and the role Machado may play in it.

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