The planned press conference in Oslo with Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado has been canceled, and her whereabouts are unknown. The opposition leader has been in hiding for eleven months from Venezuela's regime. Her family is in Norway, but no one knows if she will appear.
María Corina Machado, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was set to make her first public appearance in eleven months in Oslo. Since a demonstration in Caracas in January, she has been in hiding to evade President Nicolás Maduro's regime in Venezuela. The traditional press conference, scheduled for Tuesday, December 9, 2025, was canceled in the afternoon, according to Norwegian media.
Nobel Institute press chief Erik Aasheim confirmed the cancellation to Dagbladet and NTB. "What we have announced earlier is that the press conference would be postponed, and it has now been canceled today. Maria herself has said that it will be challenging for her to travel to Norway, but she has said that she will come. Therefore, we hope she will come, but we know nothing about when or how," he said. Aasheim emphasized that it concerns her security and that there is no reason to doubt her promise.
Machado's mother, Corina Parisca de Machado, who is in Oslo, expressed her concern to NRK: "I pray to God that she comes today." The family has arrived in the Norwegian capital, but Oslo police stated on Monday that she was not expected to arrive then. It is unclear if a press conference can be held on Wednesday, Nobel Day.
Several world leaders, including Argentina's President Javier Milei, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, and Paraguay's President Santiago Peña, have confirmed they will attend the ceremony on Wednesday. The cancellation raises questions about Machado's safety and the political situation in Venezuela.