Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Sunday after more than 10 months abroad, BBC News, NPR, and The Guardian reported. She announced the return on social media with the line, "I am here. With you."

Machado attended Mass at a church in Lara state, where supporters hugged her and clasped her hands, BBC News reported. She later rode toward Caracas in a caravan of cheering supporters and was photographed leaning from a sunroof as she entered the capital late Sunday. Edmundo González, her ally from the last presidential race, said he would soon join her in Venezuela to push what he called a path toward freedom.

Machado left the country in darkness by boat in late 2024 to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. An adviser said she had tried and failed seven times to return in recent weeks. Reports that the US delayed her return were denied by Washington, BBC News said. Maduro's government previously barred her from the ballot after she won an opposition primary. Her next political steps were not clear on the pages.

NPR noted she had been abroad about 10 months. The Guardian covered her announcement and the risk she still faces at home. Crowds treated the convoy as a public show of support after years of pressure on the opposition.

Machado built her brand as a hard-line critic of Maduro and as a Nobel laureate abroad. Her return tests whether street support can turn into a lasting political path. Local allies treated the Lara Mass and the Caracas ride as proof she can still move freely for now.

Her allies say the trip home was years in the making. Crowds lined roads as the cars rolled in. The next steps remain her call.

What we know: Machado is back in Venezuela after months abroad and entered Caracas with a support convoy.
What we don't: What she will do next, and how the government will respond in the coming days.