U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Venezuela's treatment of opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday, November 9, 2026, noting that she and other opposition members have remained in the country for more than two weeks without arrest.
Rubio made the comments during a press conference in Paris, where he was attending a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting. "I think it has been very good that María Corina and other members of the opposition have been in the country for more than two weeks. No one has been arrested. They are holding press conferences. They have full access to the internet," Rubio said.
Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, returned to Venezuela on October 25, 2026, after spending nearly ten months abroad. She had faced arrest threats from the government of Nicolás Maduro before her departure.
The U.S. official also referenced a roadmap agreed upon between Washington, the Maduro government, and opposition sectors. According to Rubio, the reconstituted Supreme Court of Venezuela is scheduled to be constituted by mid-December, with additional institutional changes expected to follow shortly thereafter.