Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado arrived in Oslo early Thursday, hours after her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.
Venezuelan opposition leaders failed to arrive in the Norwegian capital in time for an awards ceremony on Wednesday.
Here are the main points:
- Maria Corina Machado appeared in public for the first time in 11 months in Norway’s capital Oslo
- Machado’s daughter accepted the award on her mother’s behalf to a standing ovation at the beginning of the evening
- Machado reportedly secretly left Venezuela by boat before flying to Curaçao
Machado waves to supporters, appears in public for first time in 11 months
The 58-year-old opposition leader spent more than a year in hiding after Nicolas Maduro’s election victory was announced last year.
Reports say he first traveled by boat to the Caribbean island of Curaçao, which is home to a small US military base.
“I can confirm that Maria Corina Machado has arrived in Oslo,” Nobel committee head Jørgen Watten Friednes told a group of people gathered at the Grand Hotel.
Friedness said Machado would meet with his family before making an official public appearance.
Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the award on her mother’s behalf at the awards ceremony on Wednesday.
He added that “after 16 months of living in hell they will finally be able to embrace each other.”
Machado went into hiding after Maduro’s victory last year
Despite winning the opposition primary, Machado was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. She went into hiding in August 2024 after authorities expanded the arrest of opposition figures following the disputed vote.
Election officials and the top court declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner, although international observers and the opposition say their candidate won and have published figures as proof.
Nobel organizers were waiting for Machado’s safe arrival
A large portrait of Machado was hung in Oslo City Hall during the ceremony, and the audience applauded when Friednes announced that she would soon arrive.
Citing Nelson Mandela and Lech Walesa, he said democracy activists face moral dilemmas “that their adversaries never display.”
“People living under dictatorship often have to choose between the difficult and the impossible,” he said.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar