Peace Prize Organizers Uncertain When Peace Prize Winner Will Arrive for Award Event
A scheduled media briefing by Peace Prize winner MarĂa Corina Machado, who is presently in hiding, was called off on Tuesday. The award committee stated they are without any clear information regarding her current location.
Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader, has been in hiding since the country's contested 2024 election. She and her supporters assert the vote was fraudulently taken.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to bring democracy to Venezuela and was expected to formally collect the award at a formal event on Wednesday.
Despite regularly posting video updates on social media, typically in front of a neutral white wall, her precise location remains a mystery.
"MarĂa Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how difficult the journey to Oslo, Norway will be," organizers said in a statement. "We therefore are unable to at this point provide any additional information about when and how she will come for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony."
The institute had previously stated she would attend the ceremony physically. Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman had commented that "everything suggests" the press conference would go ahead despite a delay.
Government Stance and Legal Threats
Venezuela's government have stated that if Machado departed from Venezuela, she would be deemed a "person fleeing justice" by the authorities. Her family members are already in Oslo.
Last month, Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, informed a news agency that "Because she is outside Venezuela and facing numerous criminal cases, she is considered a fugitive." He stated she is accused of "acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, as well as terrorism."
Planned Comeback and Visibility
Machado had previously told her supporters that she planned to go back to Venezuela after collecting the prize.
If she makes it to the ceremony, it would mark her first public appearance since January 2025. Her last appearance before cameras was at a demonstration in Caracas on 9 January, opposing the inauguration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Election Backdrop
Following Venezuela's 2024 election, the opposition groups released vote counts indicating they had won, despite Maduro claiming victory. Several nations, such as the United States, have acknowledged its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, as the duly elected president. Ms. Machado was banned from running in that election.
