Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, has arrived in Oslo after over a year in hiding for security reasons. Her daughter Ana Corina Sosa collected the award on her behalf at the December 10 ceremony, while Machado was on a high-risk journey. Her arrival poses a symbolic challenge to Nicolás Maduro's regime and a milestone for Venezuelan opposition.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, ended over a year in hiding by arriving in Oslo at midnight on Thursday, December 11. Her arrival, confirmed by Norwegian Nobel Committee president Jørgen Watne Frydnes, follows a high-risk journey announced by the Norwegian Nobel Institute hours before the December 10 ceremony.
At the Oslo City Hall gala, her daughter Ana Corina Sosa collected the award and read Machado's acceptance speech. In it, the leader reviewed chavista repression, the manipulated July 28, 2024 elections, and Edmundo González Urrutia's victory with nearly 70% of votes per volunteer-collected tallies. "The regime sought to divide us: by our ideas, race, origin," Machado stated through her daughter, highlighting civic networks built during her 16 months in hiding.
Sosa moved the audience by saying: "My mom never breaks a promise. And that's why, with all the joy in my heart, I can tell you that in just a few hours we will be able to hug her here in Oslo." Frydnes harshly criticized Maduro's regime, demanding his resignation and detailing post-election abuses against detained minors, such as tortures documented by the UN.
The ceremony featured performances of 'Alma llanera' and 'Gloria al bravo pueblo' by Venezuelan artists, attended by Machado's family, leaders from Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, and Paraguay, and Edmundo González. Hundreds of Venezuelans celebrated with a torch march organized by the Norwegian Venezuelan Justice Alliance, chanting "Freedom, freedom!".
Machado's first official event on December 11 is a meeting with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and a press conference at the Norwegian Parliament. In a broadcast phone call, she assured: "I will be in Oslo, I am on my way." Her subsequent tweet celebrated reuniting with family after two years apart. This Nobel highlights Venezuela's democracy struggle, uniting civic movements against the dictatorship.
