Venezuelan Nobel Winner Emerges in Oslo to Collect Prize

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been in hiding for months, told the BBC that she knows “exactly the risks” she is taking by traveling to Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize, Kayla Epstein, Tiffany Wertheimer, and Yang Tian reported for BBC News.

The Nobel Institute awarded Machado the prize this year for “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” in Venezuela. (Photo: María Corina Machado Facebook) 

Machado appeared in Oslo in the middle of the night, waving from the balcony of a hotel. It was the first time she had been seen in public since January.

The 58-year-old made the covert journey despite a travel ban and threats from the Venezuelan government that she would be labeled a fugitive.

In an emotional moment, Machado waved to cheering supporters gathered outside the Grand Hotel in the Norwegian capital, blowing them kisses and singing with them.

Machado appeared in Oslo in the middle of the night, waving from the balcony of a hotel. It was the first time she had been seen in public since January. The 58-year-old made the covert journey despite a travel ban and threats from the Venezuelan government that she would be labeled a fugitive.

In an emotional moment, Machado waved to cheering supporters gathered outside the Grand Hotel in the Norwegian capital, blowing them kisses and singing with them.

The Nobel Institute awarded Machado the prize this year for “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” in Venezuela.

Earlier, her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother’s behalf. Until Wednesday night, the mother of three had not seen her children in about two years, having sent them away from Venezuela for their own safety.