Rubio: Venezuela clears Machado return

Venezuela has cleared opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to return to her country.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the development on Monday. He stated that the interim government in Caracas notified Washington weeks ago. The officials told U.S. counterparts that Machado could fly into the airport without issue. Rubio said the department then relayed that message to Machado's team.

"We spoke to the interim authorities and just said, 'Look, our expectation is that she's a Venezuelan. She belongs in her country. That's the country she's from. She should be allowed to return, and she should be allowed to return unperturbed, having no problems,'" Rubio told reporters. "And they told us that she could fly into the airport if she wanted to. And we communicated that to her team."

The news emerged one day after Machado accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway. She had left Venezuela roughly one month ago. U.S. military forces captured President Nicolás Maduro and placed his deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, in control. The Trump administration has since worked with Rodríguez on oil extraction. However, U.S. officials maintain that a democratic election remains the end goal. Machado has indicated she may run for president.

Rubio argued that the interim government is following agreed-upon deadlines. These deadlines involve replacing the Supreme Court and the electoral council. Both institutions were used by Maduro to manage political competition. Rubio dismissed the idea that Venezuelan leaders would delay elections indefinitely.

"We have timelines that are agreed to. And so far, they've met every one of the timelines," Rubio said. "You've got to change the infrastructure of the elections, not in 10 years, not in five years, not in two years. It needs to happen quickly under the timelines that we've established."

The Secretary of State cited compliance with national security demands. These include reducing Iranian and Cuban influence and pursuing criminal groups. He also mentioned the U.S. ability to grant or withhold sanctions relief as a lever for cooperation. Rubio stated that the United States holds considerable influence over the outcome of current talks.

"The United States has significant influence over the direction that these talks go and the results that we get from them," Rubio said. When asked if Rodríguez and her brother, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez, received offers of immunity, Rubio said there was "definitely no talk about prosecutions or anything of this nature." He did not directly answer if immunity was offered.

Rubio explained that he only discouraged Machado from returning once. That was immediately after the capture of Maduro. He said the priority then was logistical, specifically getting relief aid planes into the country. "And the reason why it was very simple, because right at that moment, the only thing we were focusing on from a logistical standpoint was getting as many planes with relief aid as possible into the country," Rubio said.

Machado has criticized U.S. economic deals with the interim government, particularly an oil agreement. Rubio defended the deal as a way to attract private investment. He said her objections were separate from the democratic transition. "She doesn't have to agree with it or like it," he said of the oil deal.

Rubio warned that a failed negotiation could lead to authoritarianism or armed conflict. He expressed confidence that interim authorities would keep cooperating. "If that's the interim authorities that try to do harm to this process or stop complying, then we're gonna have a problem," he said. "But I don't expect that. I really, really don't."

The Secretary also addressed the situation in Cuba. Hours after the Venezuela operation, he said anyone in the Cuban government should be concerned. President Trump has mull "taking Cuba in some form" and has not ruled out military action. Last week, Rubio and the CIA encouraged Cubans in social media posts to work with the agency for "positive change." Asked why he encouraged this over peaceful change, Rubio said, "I can't answer that." He added that Cuba needed "very dramatic change" and was "a totally different case from Venezuela."