WASHINGTON, United States: US officials told authorities in Caracas weeks ago that Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado should be able to return to her country without problems, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday. His comments came a day after Machado landed in Caracas following almost a year in exile, and she attracted jubilant crowds in a challenge to the US-backed government. Asked about the timing of her return, Rubio told reporters that “weeks and weeks ago, we spoke to the interim authorities.” Washington explained that Machado “should be allowed to return unperturbed” to her home country, he added. “They told us that she could fly into the airport if she wanted to, and we communicated that to her team,” Rubio said. He added that the only time he discouraged her from going was right after devastating earthquakes in June, with efforts focused on getting relief aid into the South American country. Machado’s return puts Venezuela’s most influential opposition figure back at the center of the country’s tumultuous politics. She left home soil last December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after nearly a year in hiding, and since then made at least seven unsuccessful attempts to return, according to sources in her party. During this period, president Nicolas Maduro was captured in an extraordinary US military operation. His deputy Delcy Rodriguez took over as interim leader with Washington’s blessing. As US-backed talks on a political transition took place, Machado had been forced to observe from exile in Panama. A senior State Department official said the aim is to have a new Supreme Court by the end of this year, while the National Electoral Council also has to be reformed. Without these two steps, the official said, Venezuela will have challenges conducting a credible election. On Monday, Rodriguez called Machado’s surprise return a “show.”