Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado Makes First Public Appearance in Oslo After Daring Escape

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado emerged publicly for the first time in 11 months on Thursday, appearing on a hotel balcony in Oslo to an emotional crowd of supporters shortly after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Dressed in jeans and a puffer jacket, Machado waved to the crowd gathered outside the Grand Hotel in Norway’s capital, where supporters chanted “Freedom! Freedom!” and sang Venezuela’s national anthem. The crowd, many with tears in their eyes, shouted “President! President!” as Machado spent several minutes embracing family members and close aides who had joined her.

“I want you all back in Venezuela,” Machado told the enthusiastic crowd as people lifted their phones to capture the historic moment.

Her appearance came hours after her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf at the award ceremony. Machado had been in hiding since January 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas.

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, told attendees at the ceremony that “María Corina Machado has done everything in her power to be able to attend the ceremony here today — a journey in a situation of extreme danger.”

In an audio recording published on the Nobel website before her arrival, Machado indicated that “many people had risked their lives” to help her reach Oslo. Flight tracking data showed that the plane she arrived on had flown to Oslo from Bangor, Maine.

“I am very grateful to them, and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people,” she said.

A Major Challenge to Maduro’s Rule

The 58-year-old opposition leader was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize for mounting what the committee called “the most serious peaceful challenge in years” to the authoritarian government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge Maduro in the July 2024 presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place on the ballot.

The election period was marked by widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests, and human rights violations. After Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner, repression intensified against opposition leaders and supporters.

González, who sought asylum in Spain after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest, attended Wednesday’s ceremony in a show of solidarity. Several Latin American leaders were also present, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.

“The Fight for Freedom”

In delivering the Nobel lecture written by her mother, Ana Corina Sosa conveyed a powerful message about Venezuela’s democratic struggle.

“More than anything, what we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey — that to have democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom,” Sosa read.

The speech focused on Venezuela’s democratic movement rather than addressing current tensions between Washington and Caracas, where U.S. President Donald Trump has continued military operations in the Caribbean that have resulted in Venezuelan casualties in international waters.

During the ceremony, Watne Frydnes directed strong words at the Venezuelan president: “Mr. Maduro, accept the election result and step down,” he said, adding that “your power is not permanent. Your violence will not prevail over people who rise and resist.”

Nobel Laureates Unable to Attend

Machado joins a small group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates who were unable to attend their ceremonies due to political persecution. According to the prize’s official website, five previous laureates were detained or imprisoned at the time of their awards, most recently Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi in 2023 and Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski in 2022. The others were Liu Xiaobo of China in 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in 1991, and Carl von Ossietzky of Germany in 1935.

Gustavo Tovar-Arroyo, a Venezuelan human rights activist who was forced to flee into exile in 2012, expressed mixed emotions about Machado’s situation. “We are disappointed that she could not be in the ceremony, but this is part of what we do when we fight against a dictatorship, a tyranny, or a criminal regime. So we are used to it.”

For Machado’s supporters both in Oslo and Venezuela, her appearance—however brief—represented a powerful symbol of resistance and hope for democratic change in a country that has suffered under authoritarian rule for years.