Opposition rally held in Caracas demanding the announcement of the 2027 election date and the return of María Corina Machado

Thousands of Venezuelan opposition supporters took to the streets of Caracas, demanding an official schedule for the 2027 presidential elections, the safe return of opposition leader María Corina Machado, and the release of political prisoners. The rally, timed to the third anniversary of the October 22, 2023 primaries, took place in parallel with a pro-government march. The Venezuelan Observatory on Social Conflict previously reported 1,101 protests in September.

Javlon TursunovFirst published on tafs uz 24 October 2026 at 00:222 min read

The key facts

The opposition demands the announcement of the 2027 election date, Machado's return, and the release of political prisoners
Machado has been in Panama since late May and has made at least seven failed attempts to return
1,101 protests were recorded in September, 531 of them over power outages

Mass opposition rally in Caracas

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas on Thursday with three main demands: to announce an official schedule for the 2027 presidential elections, to ensure the safe return of opposition leader María Corina Machado, and to immediately release all political prisoners. The demonstration was organized by the Vente Venezuela party and allied parties within the 'Unified Democratic Platform' coalition. The rally coincided with the third anniversary of the opposition primaries on October 22, 2023, in which Machado was elected the coalition's single candidate.

Change of venue

The gathering was originally planned for 4:00 p.m. local time at the Polar tower on Plaza Venezuela, but was moved to the gates of Tamanaco at the Central University of Venezuela — at the same time. The reason was that the authorities and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) organized their own mobilization at Plaza Venezuela. The opposition rally was held under the name 'Elections Now' and the slogan 'The election date is the date of liberation.' Prominent young opposition leaders, including Carlos Fernández and Enri Álvarez, presented it as the start of a new stage of the campaign of peaceful mass mobilizations. Protests also took place in other cities across the country.

Machado remains in exile

Since late May, Machado has been in Panama, where she is supported by President José Raúl Mulino. According to the outlet, she has made at least seven failed attempts to return to Venezuela from exile.

Parallel pro-government march

At the same time, supporters of the ruling administration held a government-organized march called 'Pink Month' in Plaza Venezuela in honor of women and as part of breast cancer prevention awareness. Participants wearing pink caps and scarves marched along the Libertador and Urdaneta avenues toward Santa Capilla; security forces blocked major thoroughfares in the city center.

Backdrop of social tension

The mobilization took place against a backdrop of growing social tension. On Wednesday, the eve of the rally, the non-governmental organization Venezuelan Observatory on Social Conflict reported 1,101 protests across the country in September — an average of 37 demonstrations per day. Of these, 531 were related to protests against severe power outages and chronic failures in the electricity grid.