Nobel Committee Chairman stated that Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado arrived in Oslo, Norway late on Thursday, December 10th. The Venezuelan opposition leader was unable to make it to the award ceremony held just a few hours earlier.
The 58-year-old engineer, despite facing a ten-year travel ban imposed by Venezuelan authorities, secretly left Venezuela for Oslo after hiding for over a year.
Nobel Committee Chairman Joergen Watne Frydnes confirmed Maria Corina Machado’s arrival in Oslo, addressing the gathered crowd in the lobby of the Grand Hotel where Nobel laureates typically stay, saying, “I can confirm that María Corina Machado has arrived in Oslo.”
He added, “She is on her way here, but she will first go directly to meet her family… We will see each other tomorrow.”
As he mentioned, Machado later arrived at the Grand Hotel in Oslo in the early hours of Friday.
The daughter of the Venezuelan opposition leader, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf and read the speech prepared by her mother. The speech emphasized the need to be prepared to fight for freedom for democracy to survive.
Machado stated in her speech that receiving this award not only holds significant meaning for her country but also for the entire world.
According to sources, Machado left Venezuela by boat on Tuesday, heading to the Caribbean island of Curacao, and then flew to Norway from there on a private plane.
The sources revealed that Machado’s security team had arranged for her to escape from the Venezuelan coast.
In 2024, despite Machado winning decisively in the opposition primaries, she was prohibited by authorities from participating in the presidential elections. After the controversial elections, Venezuelan authorities intensified the arrest of opposition figures, leading Machado to hide since August 2024 to avoid capture.
Although the Venezuelan electoral authorities and the Supreme Court declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro as the winner, international observers and opposition members stated that the opposition candidate who ran in place of Machado had actually won by a large margin.
In her speech following the award in October, Machado expressed her intention to dedicate the prize to the Venezuelan people and U.S. President Trump, thanking them for their support.
(This article is based on reports from Reuters)