Venezuelan opposition leader will run in next election

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Saturday said she would run in an as-yet-unplanned future election. "I will be a candidate," she said while traveling in Panama, where she is meeting with members of the Venezuelan diaspora. Meanwhile, in Caracas the US military was conducting a flyover as part of an embassy evacuation drill on Saturday, drawing curious crowds who filmed the aircraft on their mobile phones. The highly symbolic exercise would have been unthinkable just months before.

Machado expressed confidence in US President Donald Trump's plans for the country, which she believes will lead to elections. "There is one objective here, and that is to free our country -- one purpose: the transition to democracy through free and fair presidential elections in which all Venezuelans can vote," Machado said. "We believe in, trust, and thank the government of the United States -- President Trump and Secretary (of State) Marco Rubio -- for the progress that has been achieved."

Panama is holding the tally sheets from the 2024 election, in which Machado ally Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is believed to have won -- despite former president Nicolas Maduro declaring himself the winner. International observers rejected the official results. Gonzalez Urrutia gave the tally sheets to the Panamanian government in January 2025. The ruling, far-left Chavista movement rejected the documents. On Monday, while still in Panama, Machado will visit Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino and the national assembly.

Trump suggested that new elections would be held after US forces captured Maduro on January 3, but no election has been scheduled. Since then, Venezuela has been governed by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's former vice president.