Machado resurfaces in Oslo after months in hiding to collect Nobel Peace Prize

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, missing from public view for nearly a year, appeared in Oslo in the early hours of Thursday to receive her Nobel Peace Prize — a dramatic re-emergence after months spent in hiding under threat of arrest by President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Earlier it was touted that she would not attend the event due to security risks involved.

Machado, 58, waved to cheering supporters from a hotel balcony before stepping out to greet them, climbing past security barricades to embrace well-wishers. The scenes marked her first public appearance since January. Earlier in the day, her daughter Ana Corina Sosa had accepted the Peace Prize on her behalf.

In an interview with the BBC, Machado said she had not been able to hug her children for more than 16 months, missing graduations and even weddings while in hiding. Supporters pressed rosary beads into her hands outside the Oslo hotel, many of which she wore during the interview.

Despite warnings from Caracas that she would be declared a fugitive if she left Venezuela, Machado said she fully intends to return. “Of course I’m going back,” she said. “I know exactly the risks I’m taking. I will be where I am most useful for our cause.”

The Nobel Committee awarded her the Peace Prize for her efforts to secure a democratic transition in Venezuela. Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes, who sat beside her during the BBC interview, described her journey to Norway as “a situation of extreme danger”.

A covert escape

Details of Machado’s departure from Venezuela were kept tightly confidential. The Wall Street Journal reported that she travelled in disguise, crossed 10 military checkpoints undetected and escaped via a wooden skiff from a fishing village — an operation planned over two months with help from a Venezuelan network and some involvement from the United States. Machado did not deny the account but declined to elaborate.

“They say I’m a terrorist and must be jailed for life… Leaving Venezuela today is very, very dangerous,” she said, adding that many people had risked their lives to get her to Oslo.

Her appearance comes despite repeated threats from the Maduro government, which has accused her of conspiracy, incitement and terrorism. Machado has long called his administration a “criminal structure”, alleging ties to narcotics and human trafficking — charges Maduro denies.

Political stakes rise

Machado, widely regarded as one of Venezuela’s most influential opposition figures, was barred from contesting last year’s presidential election.

She continued to campaign for her replacement, Edmundo González, whom opposition tallies showed winning by a landslide even as the official results declared Maduro victorious.

She said she is ready to help form a transitional government and had offered to negotiate a peaceful path forward, but claimed the regime rejected discussions.

The Nobel Committee dismissed suggestions that her Peace Prize sits uneasily with the possibility of conflict, saying the responsibility for ensuring a peaceful transition rests squarely with the Maduro government.

US–Venezuela tensions flare

The geopolitical backdrop grew sharper on Wednesday after the US military seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, alleging it was involved in a sanctions-violating network linked to “foreign terrorist organisations”. Maduro's government accused Washington of piracy.

Machado has openly praised US President Donald Trump since winning the Nobel, even as relations between Washington and Caracas remain deeply strained.

Despite speculation that returning to Venezuela may expose her to immediate arrest, Machado said she remains committed to her political struggle. “We didn’t want a war… Maduro declared war on the Venezuelan people,” she said.