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Machado appears in Oslo after months in hiding
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado surfaced in Norway late Wednesday to accept this year's Nobel Peace Prize, ending nearly a year out of public view. The 58-year-old waved from a hotel balcony in Oslo shortly after midnight, greeted by cheering supporters who chanted her name and recorded the moment on phones.
Emotional reunion and risks acknowledged
Machado later stepped outside, climbing over security barriers to embrace the crowd. In an interview with the BBC, she described the pain of missing her children's graduations and weddings while in hiding. "For over 16 months I haven't been able to hug or touch anyone," she said. "Suddenly I've seen the people I love most, and touched them and cried and prayed together."
She confirmed her intention to return to Venezuela despite government threats. "Of course I'm going back," she told the BBC. "I know exactly the risks I'm taking. I'm going to be in the place where I'm most useful for our cause."
Covert journey from Venezuela
The Nobel Institute was unaware of Machado's exact whereabouts until she arrived in Oslo. The Wall Street Journal reported she evaded detection by disguising herself, passing 10 military checkpoints, and escaping by boat from a coastal fishing village. The operation, planned over two months, involved a network helping Venezuelans flee and received unspecified U.S. assistance.
Machado declined to detail the escape but acknowledged its danger. "They say I'm a terrorist and have to be in jail for the rest of my life," she said. "Leaving Venezuela today, in these circumstances, is very, very dangerous."
Government threats and political stance
Venezuela's attorney general had warned Machado would be declared a fugitive if she traveled to Norway, accusing her of conspiracy, incitement, and terrorism. The Maduro government has repeatedly threatened her with arrest, labeling her a terrorist for protesting last year's disputed presidential election results.
Machado, barred from running in that election, has called Maduro's government "criminal" and accused it of funding itself through drug trafficking and human trafficking. She urged the international community to cut off these criminal inflows, describing the regime as "a criminal structure, not a conventional dictatorship."
"We need to address this regime not as a conventional dictatorship, but as a criminal structure."
María Corina Machado
Peace Prize and transition demands
The Nobel Committee awarded Machado the prize for her "struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." Committee chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes called her journey to Oslo "a situation of extreme danger" and an "incredible" moment for the Nobel Institute.
Machado said she offered to negotiate a peaceful transition with Maduro's team but was rebuffed. When asked about a U.S. military strike, she avoided a direct answer but accused Maduro of "giving away our sovereignty to criminal organisations."
Frydnes placed responsibility for a peaceful transition on Maduro's government: "The power lies in the Maduro regime; they have the responsibility to make sure this is a peaceful transition."
Election controversy and U.S. tensions
Last year's presidential election, widely dismissed as neither free nor fair, saw Maduro declared the winner despite polling tallies showing opposition candidate Edmundo González winning by a landslide. Machado, barred from the ballot, campaigned for González.
Tensions with the U.S. escalated Wednesday when the Trump administration seized an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast, alleging it was part of an illicit oil network supporting terrorist groups. Venezuela condemned the move as "theft and piracy."
