Ankara: Venezuela's leading opposition figure was blocked in her latest efforts to return from exile as interim President Delcy Rodriguez was set to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York.
According to Anadolu Agency,Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado's international relations coordinator Pedro Urruchurtu confirmed Wednesday on the US social media platform X that she suffered three failed return attempts from Panama in less than 24 hours via sea and air. Air authorities in nearby transit points, including Aruba and Curacao, denied landing authorization for her flights.
"Maria Corina is being prevented from returning to Venezuela. In the last few hours, there have been three unsuccessful attempts-by sea and air-from Panama," the post said. 'That makes seven attempts-yes, seven-in recent weeks. They won't let her return to her own country," it added.
Speaking in Manhattan on Tuesday, Machado's daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the 2026 Concordia Leadership Award on her mother's behalf at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. Sosa noted that Machado is working "day and night" to re-enter Venezuela despite a highly restrictive political climate.
Less than a kilometer away at the Lotte New York Palace, Rodriguez met with US President Donald Trump. In his address to the General Assembly, Trump highlighted his administration's operational cooperation with Rodriguez's interim government following the US capture of former President Nicolas Maduro in January. Trump emphasized a newly brokered energy framework, stating that the US and Venezuela jointly influence "more than 60%" of global oil reserves.
Machado previously condemned the energy pact, insisting that long-term resource concessions cannot be signed with an unconstitutional administration.
"The wealth of our land does not belong to an illegitimate regime; it belongs to the Venezuelan people," she declared in a video message released earlier this month.
In December 2025, Machado secretly departed Venezuela by sea for Curacao to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. She has remained outside the country following Maduro's removal and two major earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela.
Her attempts to return began in late June, after the earthquakes. However, the US State Department has advised against her immediate re-entry, citing security risks.
Despite state-sanctioned transition talks, the interim administration under Rodriguez, a former vice president whose US sanctions were lifted, continues to enforce the entry bans instituted under Maduro, keeping the opposition's primary leader in exile.