Failed routes and a Panamanian passport

The US State Department has publicly recognized her right to return. Courtesy photo

By Darine Waked (La Estrella de Panamá)

HAVANA TIMES – Two developments have marked the latest hours in Venezuela: Delcy Rodríguez met with Trump in New York, while Mariia Corina Machado made three attempts to return home from Panama, where she remains with a diplomatic passport granted by the Panamanian government.

While Delcy Rodriiguez was in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly and went to a reception where she had a brief encounter with US President Donald Trump, Maria Corina Machado was trying, from Panama, to travel in the opposite direction: back to Venezuela.

In less than 24 hours, she tried three routes. First, a boat. Then a flight to Aruba. Finally, another air operation with Curaçao as the destination and Bonaire still under consideration. None was completed. According to accounts from her team and the Spanish newspaper ABC, these were Machado’s fifth, sixth, and seventh attempts since she secretly left Venezuela in December 2025. Reuters later confirmed the number with a spokesperson for the opposition leader.

The timing encapsulated the new Venezuelan reality that emerged after Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces in January. Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, is serving as interim president and has become Washington’s main interlocutor. Machado, who has been outside the country for nine months, is seeking to return and resume her political activities in person.

Her Return Remains Pending

The opposition leader’s team confirmed to La Estrella de Panamá that Machado tried to leave the country three times between Monday, September 21, and Tuesday, September 22. ABC’s account, whose correspondent David Alandete accompanied the operation in Panama, now makes it possible to reconstruct those hours in greater detail.

The first option even had a code name: Ithaca.

The meeting between Trump and Rodriguez on the night of September 22 lasted approximately 15 minutes. AFP

For several days, a sea voyage from Panama’s Pacific coast had been in preparation. A small vessel was to cross the Panama Canal on September 21, reach the Caribbean, and continue for approximately two days toward the Venezuelan coast. Departure procedures were well underway, and some of the immigration paperwork had already been processed.

Departure was scheduled for Monday night. Just hours before setting sail, the company providing the boat reported a malfunction in one of its engines, related, according to the explanation given to the organizers, to two cylinders. The service was canceled, and another vessel was not immediately offered. ABC notes that there is no evidence to conclude that the mechanical failure was not genuine.

The Operation Then Shifted from Sea to Air

Machado’s team secured a first plane to fly to Aruba on Tuesday morning. Administrative problems arose over the classification of the flight, and the island’s authorities subsequently refused permission to land. Another aircraft was sought. This time, flight plans were prepared for Curaçao, with Bonaire as an alternative. Landing permission was not granted there either.

Those three episodes completed a sequence that began in late June.

On June 26, Machado left Virginia aboard a private plane bound for Curaçao, but the aircraft was instructed to return to the United States while already in flight. Two days later, she traveled to Panama intending to take a commercial flight to Caracas; according to her team’s account cited by ABC, she was unable to board that flight either. Two other alternatives were subsequently organized, one of them by land, but the details remain confidential.

With this week’s efforts, Machado has now made at least seven attempts to return to Venezuela by air, land, and sea. Her team maintains that she has been prevented from doing so. Neither ABC nor Reuters, however, has established that all the obstacles stemmed from the same authority or a single political decision: in Panama, there was a mechanical failure reported by a private company; the subsequent flights involved landing permits from the Dutch Caribbean islands; and earlier attempts involved decisions attributed to Venezuela and communications from the United States.

María Corina Machado is seeking to return to Venezuela to resume her political leadership in person, travel throughout the country, and promote a democratic transition through free elections.

María Corina Machado is seeking to return to Venezuela to resume her political leadership in person, travel throughout the country, and promote a democratic transition through free elections. AFP

The Panamanian Passport That Opened a Route for Machado

This week’s attempts revealed another detail that had until now been kept confidential: the document Machado is using to travel.

Sources at Panama’s Foreign Ministry confirmed to La Estrella de Panamá that the government granted her a special diplomatic passport on humanitarian grounds to facilitate her international travel.

The opposition leader does not have a valid Venezuelan passport. Hers expired approximately nine years ago, and Venezuela has not issued her a new one, a situation that had begun to limit her ability to transit through third countries. Panama decided to provide her with a travel document to address the problem.

The document does not make Machado a Panamanian citizen, nor does it entail renouncing her Venezuelan nationality. ABC, which examined the passport, said it identifies Machado as having been born in Venezuela and that it was issued because of her documentation situation. The clarification became relevant after a flight manifest circulated listing her as Panamanian.

National law allows for such an arrangement

A law created by Panama’s Passport Authority in April, 2013,  establishes that, at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic-rank passports may be issued to Panamanians and foreigners of recognized national or international standing who have rendered valuable service to the nation.

The Foreign Ministry also maintains a separate category known as a Special Visa, intended for private individuals traveling on certain missions or for humanitarian reasons. In such cases, the beneficiary uses an ordinary passport accompanied by a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The document given to Machado, according to sources consulted by the newspaper, is a special diplomatic passport that, under her circumstances, serves as a safe-conduct document.

The issue reached President Jose Raul Mulino in New York on Wednesday. Asked whether Machado should be in Venezuela, he replied: “That is a problem for Venezuelans, not mine.” His remark comes after a period in which Panama has maintained close relations with the Venezuelan opposition and safeguarded the election tally sheets collected after the July 2024 elections.

Beyond officials and individuals who may receive diplomatic passports by virtue of their positions, the law itself provides an exceptional avenue. Article 22 authorizes the Passport Authority, upon request from the Foreign Ministry, to grant diplomatic-rank documents to both Panamanians and distinguished foreigners of recognized national or international standing who have rendered valuable service to the nation.

Panamanian diplomatic sources say the document granted to Maria Corina Machado falls under this provision. According to their explanation, it was issued on a special basis and for humanitarian reasons, with the aim of facilitating her international travel. With this decision, the country maintains its historic tradition of offering protection to persecuted leaders and citizens without altering the identity or legal status of the opposition leader.

“I Cannot Lead This Process from Abroad”

Panama granted María Corina Machado a special diplomatic document to facilitate her international travel and eventual return to Venezuela. File photo

Machado has been preparing her return for months.

In an interview in Panama with The Wall Street Journal, she said, “I cannot lead the process from abroad,” and maintained that the time had come to return. The newspaper described her as working from Panama City on a strategy to reactivate her grassroots organization and push for new elections.

Her plan includes traveling through Venezuela’s 23 states, convening citizen assemblies, and rebuilding the opposition’s political structures. She has also raised the possibility of running again if Venezuela holds elections with guarantees.

Washington, meanwhile, has sent signals that are less straightforward than its public statements might suggest.

Reuters reported that, following the June earthquakes, US officials privately asked Machado to postpone her return and opposed some of her efforts to go back. The State Department did not respond to the news agency regarding this week’s three attempts.

Asked in New York on Wednesday about the obstacles to Machado’s return, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was unaware of the specific circumstances and reiterated that US policy is aimed at allowing Venezuelans who have left the country to return when conditions permit.

Two Images of Venezuela

The contrast was at its sharpest this week. While Machado was looking for a way out of Panama, Rodriguez was in New York.

On Tuesday, she participated in the United Nations General Assembly and that night encountered Trump at a reception hosted by the US president. It was their first face-to-face meeting since Maduro’s capture in January.

Some details of the conversation are now known. Rubio said Trump and Rodriguez discussed restructuring Venezuela’s debt, one of the central issues in the country’s economic recovery. The secretary of state added that Washington continues to maintain that Venezuela’s political process should culminate in free and fair elections.

The scene in New York and the events unfolding in Panama were taking place almost simultaneously.

Rodriguez moved between the UN and contacts with the US administration. Machado waited first for news about a boat, then an airplane, and finally landing permits on one of the Caribbean islands from which she hoped to make her way toward Venezuela.

Panama has thus become, at least for now, the point from which she is trying to return.

No date has been announced for her next attempt, nor has any route been confirmed. It is also unclear what would happen if Machado ultimately succeeded in reaching Venezuelan territory. The one thing that has not changed during these months is her determination to return.

After seven attempts, the journey remains unfinished. And in a strange reversal of circumstances, leaving Venezuela while Maduro was still in power proved possible; returning nine months later remains out of reach.

First published in Spanish by La Estrella de Panamá and translated and posted by Havana Times.

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