Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado made her first public appearance in 11 months early Thursday morning local time, waving to supporters at a hotel in the Norwegian capital hours after her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. This was reported by CBC News, writes UNN.
Machado had been in hiding since January 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters at a protest in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. She was expected to attend the awards ceremony on Wednesday in Oslo, where heads of state and her family were among those awaiting her.
CBS News learned that Machado fled Venezuela via the Dutch island of Curaçao, located about 40 miles north of the Venezuelan coast. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report details of her journey to Oslo.
Machado stated in an audio recording of a phone call, published on the Nobel Prize website, that she would not be able to arrive in time for the ceremony, but many people "risked their lives" for her to arrive in Oslo.
Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the award on her behalf.
She wants to live in a free Venezuela and will never give up on that goal," Sosa said. "So we all know, and I know, that she will return to Venezuela very soon."
Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said during the awards ceremony that "María Corina Machado did everything possible to be able to be here today — a journey under extremely dangerous conditions."
Although she will not be able to attend today's ceremony and events, we are deeply pleased to confirm that she is safe and that she will be with us here in Oslo.
In a Zoom interview with CBS News hours after she was awarded the honorary prize in October, the woman known as Venezuela's "iron lady" said it was a message to Venezuelans that they "are not alone."
"The world recognizes this huge, epic struggle," Machado said.
Venezuela's attorney general told Agence France-Presse last month that Machado would be considered a "fugitive" if she left Venezuela to accept the award.
Recall
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to María Corina Machado for her fight for democracy and the rights of the Venezuelan people, the Nobel Committee announced on October 10.
Shortly thereafter, the Venezuelan government closed its embassy in Norway after opposition leader María Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize. Caracas explains this as a "restructuring," but international observers see it as a political signal of discontent.