CARACAS, Venezuela — Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday, her first appearance in the country since December, as pressure mounts for a new presidential election. “I am here. With you,” Machado wrote on social media after arriving. Opposition figure Edmundo González confirmed her return and said he would join her “very soon,” describing her presence as a return of Venezuela’s “sovereign voice.” Machado’s homecoming comes amid deep uncertainty over the country’s democratic future. Nicolás Maduro was removed from power by the U.S. military about a month before her return, according to the account of events. Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally, has since governed as acting president with the Trump administration’s backing. Her authorized time in the role has expired, and no presidential election date has been set. Machado spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela after she was briefly detained following a protest in January 2025. She later left the country in a clandestine escape and appeared in Norway in December, where she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her challenge to Maduro’s authoritarian government. Machado and her allies have called for a presidential election. U.S. officials, meanwhile, have emphasized economic stabilization as a priority, leaving the timing of a vote unresolved.