Orlando Avendaño, senior editor of Voz, returns to Venezuela after nearly 9 years in exile

Venezuelan journalist Orlando Avendaño, editor of Voz, returned on Wednesday to Venezuela after nearly nine years in exile. The journalist landed at Maiquetía International Airport alongside Jorge Martin Frias and Hermann Tertsch, members of the European Parliament from the Spanish political party Vox. The Spanish media outlet ABC was the first to report on the trip.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Avendaño, which, according to ABC, remains in effect. In April 2024, Attorney General Tarek William Saab linked him to an alleged plot of "hate speech" against the then-leader of the regime, Nicolás Maduro, and issued an arrest warrant against him. Saab also claimed that the Attorney General's Office had him "tracked down" in Colombia, where he lives in exile.

Days later, Avendaño reported that officials from the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) raided his parents' home in the Venezuelan city of Valencia. Furthermore, in October 2025, Diosdado Cabello, then considered the second-in-command of Chavismo, addressed the journalist directly on his program "Con el Mazo Dando": "Listen, Orlando Avendaño, you're expendable.”

The trip was organized by the Disenso Foundation, which is linked to Vox; Avendaño serves on its International Advisory Board.

In statements to the aforementioned media outlet, the journalist thanked Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for making it possible for exiles like him to return: "I'm coming back because I love my country."

Martín Frías, director of Disenso, and Tertsch, vice president of the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, also traveled with the aim of supporting Machado following her return to the country in late October. "Our purpose is to stand by her and under no circumstances to interfere in the ongoing process," Disenso stated.

Under Maduro's leadership, Venezuelan authorities twice prevented European parliamentarians invited by the opposition from entering the country, in February 2019 and July 2024. In both cases, the delegation was unable to leave Maiquetía Airport.

Avendaño's arrival also comes in the midst of political transition in Venezuela. Following Maduro's capture by U.S. forces on Jan. 3, Delcy Rodríguez assumed the role of interim president. Since then, she has pushed for an amnesty law, opened talks with a sector of the opposition, and promised elections with a renewed electoral authority, although she has not yet set a date. However, hundreds political prisoners remain in detention despite the amnesty.