Supporters of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado rallied in Caracas and other Venezuelan cities Sunday, demanding her safe return from exile and presidential elections. Her party says she has made seven unsuccessful attempts to return this year.
Machado’s team said her latest effort began with a boat charter that was canceled hours before departure after the company said its vessel was unfit to sail; the team also said a flight to Curaçao was denied landing permission. Opposition activists accuse Venezuela’s government of blocking her return, a claim authorities deny. U.S. officials deny holding her back but say they have sometimes advised against her return over safety concerns.
In Caracas, hundreds of activists wearing sky blue, the color of Machado’s Vente Venezuela party, rode motorcycles and drove through main avenues waving Venezuelan flags. Similar demonstrations were held in Valencia, Maracaibo and Mérida. Machado was barred from the last presidential election by courts controlled by former President Nicolás Maduro. Her stand-in candidate is widely believed to have won almost two-thirds of the vote, but Maduro claimed victory; his crackdown on dissidents protesting the official results forced Machado and dozens of opposition leaders into hiding.
