Machado appears publicly for the first time since January
Venezuelan opposition leader and Venezuelan Nobel winner María Corina Machado, who has spent months in hiding, told the BBC she is fully aware of the risks involved in travelling to Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize. Machado appeared in Oslo in the middle of the night, waving from the balcony of a hotel — her first public sighting since January.
The 58-year-old undertook the covert journey despite a travel ban and threats from the Venezuelan government that she would be declared a fugitive. Supporters gathered outside Oslo’s Grand Hotel cheering her name as she blew kisses and sang with them. She later climbed over security barricades to greet them up close.
Prize awarded for “struggle for democratic transition”
The Nobel Institute granted Machado the Peace Prize for “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” in Venezuela. Earlier on Wednesday, her daughter Ana Corina Sosa accepted the award on her behalf. Until Wednesday night, Machado had not seen her children for about two years, having sent them abroad for their safety.
Speaking to the BBC’s Lucy Hockings, Machado described the emotional toll: missing graduations and weddings, and spending 16 months unable to touch another person. She wore multiple rosary beads gifted by supporters outside the hotel.
Uncertain return to Venezuela
Speculation remains over whether the Venezuelan Nobel winner can safely return home. “Of course I’m going back,” she told the BBC. “I know exactly the risks I’m taking.” She added that her priority is to be “in the place where I’m most useful for our cause,” which she currently believes is Oslo.
Machado has long been one of the most prominent voices in Venezuela’s opposition, repeatedly denouncing Nicolás Maduro’s government as “criminal.” She was barred from running in last year’s presidential election, which resulted in Maduro securing a third term — a contest widely dismissed internationally as neither free nor fair.
Travel described as “extremely dangerous”
The Maduro government has accused Machado of encouraging foreign intervention, labelling her a terrorist and threatening arrest. Venezuela’s attorney general recently warned she would be considered a fugitive if she attempted to collect the prize.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Machado escaped Venezuela in disguise, passing through 10 military checkpoints and sailing away from a coastal fishing village — a plan reportedly months in the making and supported by a Venezuelan escape network, with possible US involvement. Machado did not deny the report but declined to elaborate.
She told the BBC she reached Oslo only because “many men and women risked their lives” to help her. Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, described her journey as one of “extreme danger,” calling the moment of her arrival “emotional” and “incredible.”
Accusations of criminal funding and international appeals
Machado accused Maduro’s regime of being financed by criminal activities including drug trafficking and human trafficking, urging the international community to help “cut those inflows.” Maduro has consistently denied such connections.
Asked whether she would support a US military strike on Venezuelan territory, Machado avoided a direct answer, instead accusing Maduro of surrendering Venezuelan sovereignty to criminal groups and declaring: “It was Maduro who declared war on the Venezuelan people.”
She added that she and her team are prepared to form a government and had offered to negotiate a peaceful transition with Maduro’s camp — an offer she says was rejected.
Source: BBC
Also read: Nobel Peace Prize winner will be in Oslo but not awards ceremony
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