Published On 5/24/2026
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said that she intends to run in the upcoming presidential elections, although no date has been set for them, at a time when the United States is conducting military exercises in the skies of the capital, Caracas.
“I will run,” Machado said during a visit to Panama to meet members of the Venezuelan community there.
Meanwhile, the US Army conducted military exercises over Caracas, yesterday, Saturday, in its first military exercise in Venezuela since US forces attacked the capital and arrested President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, on January 3.
The Venezuelan government said that it allowed these exercises as evacuation exercises in anticipation of medical emergencies or potential disasters. It included two MV-22B Osprey aircraft that landed near the American embassy and ships that entered Venezuelan waters in the Caribbean Sea.
Francis Donovan, commander of the US Southern Command, which oversees US military operations in the Americas, flew on board an Osprey plane to Caracas, where he met with officials in the interim government.
The administration of US President Donald Trump supported the government of Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, which passed laws to open Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and mining resources to the United States.
News reports stated that US forces were conducting air training in Caracas as part of an exercise to evacuate embassy employees, which aroused the curiosity of passers-by who decided to photograph the aircraft with their mobile phones. This training would not have been possible just a few months ago.
Trump’s plan
Machado expressed her confidence in the US President’s plans for the country, noting that they would lead to holding elections.
She said: “There is one goal here, which is to liberate our country, and one goal is the transition to democracy through free and fair presidential elections in which all Venezuelans can vote. We believe in the American government, we trust it, and we thank it, especially President Trump and Secretary (of State) Marco Rubio, for the progress that has been made.”
Panama keeps records of the vote count for the 2024 elections, in which Machado’s ally Edmundo González Urrutia is believed to have won, despite former President Nicolas Maduro declaring victory. International observers rejected the official results.
In January 2025, González Urrutia handed over vote counting records to the Panamanian government. The ruling Chavit movement in Venezuela rejected these documents.
Trump had hinted that new elections would be held after US forces arrested Maduro, but no date has yet been set.
