According to a source with direct knowledge of her plans, Machado pursued several routes – including a boat trip and flights to the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao – before attempting to cross the sea to Venezuela, but each effort fell through.
The failed attempts coincided with acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where she met U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a White House official confirmed.
Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, told Colombian outlet NTN24 on Sept. 22 that her mother was actively trying to return, noting that “many forces” made the process far more complicated than simply boarding a plane.
Machado has previously made several unsuccessful attempts to re‑enter Venezuela, including a forced diversion of her plane in late June, and has publicly said she is prepared to return at a moment’s notice by land, sea or air.
Her desire to come back is framed as part of a U.S.–backed political transition that began after Nicolas Maduro’s capture in January, a transition that Washington is pursuing through engagement with Rodríguez, sanction relief and a new oil agreement.
Rodríguez’s government has already allowed numerous exiled politicians, activists and journalists to return, a move that could become more contentious if Machado, who enjoys a 53 percent positive rating in the latest AtlasIntel survey, manages to enter the country.
Machado fled Venezuela after the disputed 2024 presidential election, citing threats to her life, and later left in late 2025 in a clandestine operation to collect her Nobel Peace Prize before meeting Trump and senior U.S. officials in Washington.