Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado appeared in Oslo early this morning, embracing supporters outside her hotel after arriving in the Norwegian capital following a decade-long travel ban and more than a year in hiding. The Venezuelan opposition figure was unable to attend the award ceremony held hours earlier.
Machado’s Journey to Oslo
The 58-year-old engineer secretly left Venezuela for Oslo in defiance of the travel ban imposed by authorities in her home country. She traveled by boat to the Caribbean island of Curacao before taking a private plane to Norway, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Speaking in Oslo, Machado described the joy of reuniting with her children, who live in exile, for the first time in approximately two years. “For over 16 months I haven’t been able to hug or touch anyone,” she told the BBC. “Suddenly in the matter of a few hours I’ve been able to see the people I love the most, and touch them and cry and pray together.”
Machado greeted dozens of people from the balcony of Oslo’s Grand Hotel, waving and singing the national anthem alongside the crowd, who displayed Venezuelan flags and filmed her with their mobile phones. She later climbed over crowd barriers to hug and shake hands with those who had gathered to see her.
“After all these months in which she has been in hiding and her life has been in danger, I think seeing her together with the entire Venezuelan diaspora is a pleasure and a reassurance that she is safe, and it is also a way for the Venezuelan cause to stay alive and a way to put more pressure on the regime,” said Diana Luna, a Mexican-German woman in the crowd.
Acceptance of the Prize and Message of Freedom
Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the Nobel Prize on her mother’s behalf and delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of fighting for freedom to preserve democracy. In the speech, Machado said the prize held profound significance for both Venezuela and the world.
“It reminds the world that democracy is essential to peace,” she said via her daughter, whose voice cracked with emotion. “And more than anything, what we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey: that to have a democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom.”
Machado plans to return to Venezuela despite the risks she faces, telling the BBC, “Of course I’m going back.”
A large portrait of Machado was displayed in Oslo City Hall during the ceremony. Norwegian Nobel Committee head Joergen Watne Frydnes evoked previous laureates Nelson Mandela and Lech Walesa, stating that fighters for democracy are expected “to pursue their aims with a moral purity their opponents never display.” He added, “This is unrealistic. It is unfair… People living under the dictatorship often have to choose between the difficult and the impossible.”
Background and Political Context
Machado was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election despite winning the opposition’s primary by a landslide. She went into hiding in August 2024 after authorities expanded arrests of opposition figures following the disputed vote. The electoral authority and top court declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner, but international observers and the opposition claim the opposition candidate won and have provided ballot box-level tallies as evidence.
Machado dedicated the Nobel Peace Prize in part to former US President Donald Trump, who has also stated he believes he deserved the honor. She has aligned herself with those close to Trump who argue Maduro has links to criminal gangs that pose a threat to US national security.
Machado also stated that Venezuelans did not recognize in time how fragile their institutions had become, noting that Hugo Chavez, who was elected in 1999, had previously led a military coup. “Many thought that charisma could substitute the rule of law,” she said. “From 1999 onward, the regime dismantled our democracy.”
Maduro has claimed Trump is attempting to overthrow him to gain access to Venezuela’s oil reserves.
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