Related videos:
María Corina Machado starred in a historic gathering this Saturday at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where tens of thousands of Venezuelans from the diaspora cheered her on with cries of "¡Presidenta!" and "¡Libertad!", in what estimates suggest could be up to 200,000 attendees.
Venezuelans arrived from all over Spain and Europe with tricolor flags, banners bearing slogans such as "María Corina, hope and freedom," "Freedom for political prisoners," and "Go home the Venezuelan way," in an atmosphere filled with emotion, tears, and hugs.
From the balcony of the Community of Madrid headquarters, where she received the Gold Medal from President Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Machado rallied the crowd: "With all this energy I am feeling from you, we are going to return to Venezuela."
In her speech at Puerta del Sol, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was direct about the path to democracy: "The guarantee of stability and peace in Venezuela is clean and free elections, so that we can move forward in an orderly transition."
Machado also responded to those questioning the electoral viability: "Some allies of the regime have said that Venezuela is not ready for elections, but we are going to prove them wrong. On July 28, we will dismantle the fraud."
He also announced his upcoming return to Venezuela alongside president-elect Edmundo González Urrutia: "I will return to Venezuela soon, and I will do so with our admired president Edmundo González Urrutia, a man who has earned the respect, love, and admiration of the world."
The Saturday event began with the 27-minute interview that Machado gave at Telecinco studios, his first appearance on Spanish television, where he recounted his life in hiding, his departure from Venezuela by boat, and his conversation with Donald Trump, moving the Venezuelan workers at the channel to tears.
The visit to Madrid was the highlight of a European tour that began on April 13 in Paris, where she was warmly welcomed by Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace.
On Friday, Machado received the Golden Key of the Madrid City Council from the mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, met with the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo—who greeted her with a "¡Valiente!"—and with Santiago Abascal from Vox, in addition to participating in a meeting with five Cuban activists at the PP headquarters on Calle Génova.
Machado did not meet with government president Pedro Sánchez, who was attending a summit in Barcelona.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner escaped from Venezuela on December 11, 2025, in a covert operation supported by the United States, after 16 months in hiding evading an arrest warrant from Nicolás Maduro's regime and a travel ban that had been in effect for over a decade.
Madrid, which hosts the largest Venezuelan community in Europe, became this Saturday the symbolic epicenter of a diaspora that, as described by an eyewitness, has transformed from absence into a powerful presence.
"This is a day I will remember for the rest of my life, it is a day when the cry for freedom from Venezuela has resounded", declared Machado before the crowd that filled the square.
Filed under: