Venezuela's Machado vows another run for presidency and eyes return from exile before end of 2026

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — Venezuela's Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado announced Saturday that she plans to run for president again and intends to return to her home country before the end of 2026.

Machado's remarks, made while meeting in Panama with several fellow Venezuelan opposition leaders, come more than four months after the stunning White House decision to sideline her and instead work with a Venezuelan ruling party loyalist following the U.S. military’s capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Machado has been in exile since December, when she emerged from 11 months in hiding somewhere in Venezuela and traveled to Norway where she was honored with the Nobel Prize.

She told reporters in Panama City that she and the other gathered opposition leaders remain committed to a democratic transition “through free and fair presidential elections, where all Venezuelans inside and outside the country vote.”

Still, it is unclear when Venezuela will hold a presidential election.

U.S. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have praised Maduro’s successor, acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who has thrown open Venezuela’s oil industry to U.S. investment at a time of surging oil prices tied to the war in Iran.

The Trump administration has also dampened talk of elections, which are required by Venezuela’s constitution within 30 days of the president becoming “permanently unavailable.”

An election with democratic conditions would take between seven and nine months of planning, Machado said. Necessary changes include the appointment of neutral electoral authorities, voting registration updates and the ability of opposition candidates to run for office without government interference.

Machado rose to become Maduro’s strongest opponent in recent years, but his government barred her from running for office in the 2024 presidential election, leading her to choose retired ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia to represent her on the ballot.

Officials loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner mere hours after the polls closed, but Machado’s well-organized campaign collected evidence showing González had defeated Maduro by a margin of more than 2-to-1.

On Saturday, Machado told reporters she would run against any other presidential hopeful in “an impeccable election.”

“I will be a candidate, but there may be others, of course,” she said. “I would love to compete with everyone, with anyone who wants to be a candidate.”

Venezuela's opposition activist Leopoldo Lopez looks at opposition leader Maria Corina Machado during a press conference in Panama City, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, center right, speaks during a press conference in Panama City, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's opposition activist Leopoldo Lopez, right, looks at opposition leader Maria Corina Machado after a press conference in Panama City, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, center, attends a press conference in Panama City, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado attends a press conference in Panama City, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Famous cricketers from around the world have renewed their appeal for the medical treatment of former star player turned politician Imran Khan in a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

A group of 22 former international cricket captains, including Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev of India and Australian greats Greg Chappell and Ian Chappell, signed a second such letter to the Pakistan prime minister within six months.

The latest appeal comes days after Khan was taken to a government hospital in the capital for a medical examination. The examination was conducted in the presence of one of his sisters, and Khan was then returned to Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Doctors declared him 100% medically fit.

However, the group of cricket greats questioned the procedure of Khan’s medical checkup.

“ Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered that Imran Khan be transferred to hospital for examination by a medical board that was to include his own personal physicians and his sister, Dr. Uzma Khan,” the cricketers said in a letter.

“Concerningly, Mr. Khan’s hospital stay lasted only a few hours. He was examined by a state-appointed team rather than the board the court had directed, declared ‘medically fit,’ and returned to Adiala jail before that board could complete its work.”

Khan, 73, led Pakistan to the 1992 Cricket World Cup title and later served as prime minister from 2018 until his ouster in 2022.

The 22 former national team captains said they don't seek to adjudicate on Pakistan’s domestic legal process and had written to the prime minister “not as politicians, but as former colleagues and rivals (of Khan) who share a bond forged on the cricket field.”

In February, 14 former international cricketers expressed their concern over Khan’s health after his family said he had lost about 85% of the vision in his right eye, a claim disputed by the government. Authorities later said his condition was improving following treatment.

Khan’s lawyers and family have also accused the government of defying a court order that required him to be examined at the private Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad. Pakistan’s government rejected the allegations over the weekend, saying Khan was examined by doctors from the private hospital and that he could not be taken to Shifa International for security reasons.

The government said Khan’s supporters had begun gathering outside the private hospital in violation of the court order, which required them to stay away from the medical facility to avoid inconveniencing other patients.

The government has also rejected allegations from Khan’s family that he was being subjected to “cruelty, mental torture, punitive solitary confinement and medical neglect.”

Khan is not being held under a government order but as a “convicted prisoner” serving sentences imposed by courts following judicial proceedings, the Ministry of Information said in a written response to The Associated Press last Friday.

The ministry also rejected allegations that Khan was being held in solitary confinement or denied meaningful contact with his family. It said Khan had received more than 900 visits from family members, lawyers, doctors, political representatives, and other approved visitors since his imprisonment in 2023. He has also been allowed weekly meetings with his wife, as well as telephone and WhatsApp contact with relatives in Pakistan and abroad, the ministry said.

It said his sisters had met with him as recently as Aug. 18 and 19.

See AP’s full cricket coverage here

Police officers remove media in front of the Shifa International Hospital, where imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan will be transferred for a medical examination following Pakistan's Supreme Court order, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's sister Uzma Khan, left, speaks as Khan's personal physician Faisal Sultan watches during a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

A medical person enters Shifa International Hospital, where imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan will be transferred for a medical examination following Pakistan's Supreme Court order, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)