Venezuelan opposition redefines its strategy with one priority: The return of its leaders in exile

"the capture of Nicolas Maduro. However, the outlook darkened as the hours passed, and the main anti-Chavista leaders, headed by Maria Corina Machado, adjusted their priorities in response to Donald Trump's affront. While the initial reaction of the opposition leadership was a willingness to immediately replace Chavismo, the harsh reality imposed by the Republican president's choice of Delcy Rodriguez ultimately redefined their strategy."

"The priority is no longer seizing power, but returning to Venezuela. This represents not only a minimum condition for beginning a cycle of change, even under the tutelage of the White House, but also an urgent political necessity for the opposition in exile. And today, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also emphasized, there are no longer any top-level leaders of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) in Caracas."

"Machado, forced to live in hiding to evade the regime's persecution, left almost a month ago to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, and before the Delta Force attack, she was waiting for the opportune moment to return. Now she makes no secret of her intention to return as soon as possible, as she stated on Saturday on the conservative Fox News network, the outlet she chose to give her first interview since the capture of the Venezuelan president and to address Trump voters."

An apparent transition to democracy began after a U.S. military incursion into Caracas and the capture of Nicolas Maduro. Opposition leaders, led by Maria Corina Machado, shifted priorities from immediately replacing Chavismo to securing return from exile. Returning to Venezuela is framed as the minimum condition to begin a cycle of change and as an urgent political necessity for exiled leaders. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the absence of top-level Democratic Unitary Platform leaders in Caracas. Machado, living in hiding and recently departed to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, declared an intention to return and gave an interview on Fox News. Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia remains in exile in Spain and elaborated on strategic patience echoing former mayor Antonio Ledezma in an EL PAIS opinion piece.

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