Venezuelan opposition leader Machado greets supporters in Norway after the Nobel ceremony
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Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in public for the first time in 11 months early Thursday morning, when she was greeted by supporters at a hotel hours after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Machado has been hiding since Jan. 9, when he was briefly arrested after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. He is expected to attend a ceremony on Wednesday in Oslo, where heads of state and his family were among those waiting to see him.
Machado said in an audio recording of the call published on the Nobel website that he would not be able to arrive in time for the event but that many people were ‘risking their lives’ to be able to get to Oslo.
His daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the award in his place.
“He wants to live in a free Venezuela, and he will never give up on that goal,” Sosa said. “That’s why we all know, and I know, that he will return to Venezuela soon.”
This speech did not address the unity that currently exists between Washington and Caracas, as US President Donald Trump continued military operations in the Caribbean that killed Venezuelans abroad and threatened to attack Venezuela. Machado agreed with Trump’s strategy towards the country.
It means that many lives are at risk of Oslo’s arrival in Oslo, he says
Jørgegen Watne FrYDNES, CHAIRMAN of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told the award ceremony that “María Corina Machado did everything in her power to be able to go to the ceremony here today – a journey at great risk.”
“Although he will not be able to make it to today’s ceremony and events, we are very happy to make sure he is safe, and that he will be with us here in Oslo,” the applause said.
Machado said in an audio recording of the call published on the Nobel website that he would not be able to arrive in time for the event but that many people were ‘risking their lives’ to be able to get to Oslo.
“I am very grateful to them, and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the people of Venezuela,” he said, before indicating that he was about to board the plane.
“Since this is a prize for all the people of Venezuela,” he said, “I believe it will be accepted by them. And as soon as I arrive, I will be able to accept all my family and my children that I cannot,
Show solidarity
The highest figures in Latin America studied on Tuesday in a sign of solidarity with Machado, including the President of Argentina Javier Milei, the President of Panama José RAúl Mulino and the President of Paraguay Santiago Peña.
The 58-year-old Machado’s victory in his struggle for democratic reform in his democratic South American nation was announced on Oct. 10
Machado won the opposition election and intended to challenge President Nicolás Maduro in the last Presidential election, but the government prevented him from running for office. The discrimination retired Edmundo González took his place.
The lead-up to the election on July 28, 2024, saw widespread repression, including impeachment, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the National Assembly, dominated by Maduro loyalists, was declared the winner.
González, who sought asylum in Spain last year after leaving the Venezuelan court, went to his factory, to Ndwuwana’s festival.
Human rights authorities, the UN and many international rights groups have expressed concern about the situation in Venezuela, and have called on Maduro to respond to the crackdown on the conflict.
“More than anything, what we Venezuelans can give to the world is the lesson we have learned from this long and difficult journey – that we have freedom,” said Sosa as he struggled to talk about his mother.
