The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado , has announced she has returned to Venezuela almost a year after she left the country to receive the Nobel peace prize.

“I’m here. With you,” she wrote on X on Sunday lunchtime.

Her close ally Edmundo González, who is in exile, confirmed her arrival. “Venezuela! I am thrilled to announce to you that our leader, my dear María Corina, is on Venezuelan soil,” he posted on social media.

“Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!” he said, adding that he too would soon return.

It was not immediately clear how Machado, 59, had managed to return to Venezuela but footage on social media showed she was in Barquisimeto, the capital of Lara state, which is about 220 miles west of the capital, Caracas.

Images showed her surrounded by supporters holding mobile phones in the Sanctuary of the Divine Shepherdess church.

Machado at the Sanctuary of the Divine Shepherdess in Barquisimeto.…