Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado plans to return to the country following devastating twin earthquakes.
The exiled leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate told US broadcaster Fox News on Sunday "the time has come" for her to return home.
"It is my duty to accompany my people. We need to be together, to embrace, to grieve and mourn together," she said.
Machado said she intended to be in Venezuela "very soon."
More than 1,430 people were killed and thousands more injured in the twin earthquakes that struck on Wednesday.
Thousands are still believed to be trapped beneath the rubble following the back-to-back magnitude-7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes.
For months, Machado has repeatedly announced her imminent return to her homeland. However, according to a report in the New York Times, the US government considers such a swift return inappropriate.
In December, Machado left Venezuela to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. In early January, Washington launched a military operation in Venezuela capturing leader Nicolás Maduro.
Since Maduro's capture, the South American country has been ruled by acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was previously Maduro's vice president. The political future of Venezuela remains uncertain.
