Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is safe but will not attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on March 6, 2024. The event, taking place at Oslo City Hall, will proceed without her, despite her anticipated presence. The Norwegian Nobel Institute confirmed her safety in a statement, emphasizing that she will eventually arrive in Oslo, although no specific date was provided.
Machado, 58, has been under a travel ban imposed by Venezuelan authorities for over a decade and has spent more than a year in hiding. The ceremony will still honor her achievement, with her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, stepping in to receive the award and deliver the Nobel lecture on her behalf.
In October, when Machado was announced as the Nobel laureate, she dedicated her award partly to Donald Trump, who has claimed that he deserves recognition for his efforts regarding Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, accused Trump of attempting to overthrow him to gain access to Venezuela’s oil reserves. He has asserted that Venezuelans and the military will resist any such attempts.
Machado has allied herself with those close to Trump, who contend that Maduro has connections to criminal organizations that threaten U.S. national security. This perspective is not universally accepted, as doubts have been raised by the U.S. intelligence community. Recently, the Trump administration has conducted over 20 military strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and along Latin America’s Pacific coast. These actions have drawn condemnation from human rights organizations, some Democratic lawmakers, and various Latin American nations, who have labeled them as unlawful extrajudicial killings.
Venezuela’s armed forces have reportedly prepared to engage in guerrilla-style resistance or create chaos should U.S. military actions occur. This information comes from sources familiar with the military’s strategic planning and documents reviewed by Reuters.
In 2024, Machado was barred from participating in the presidential election despite winning the opposition’s primary by a significant margin. She went into hiding in August 2024 after the government intensified arrests of opposition figures following a disputed election. The electoral authority and the Supreme Court declared Maduro the victor, but international observers and the opposition claimed that their candidate had won, citing ballot box-level evidence.
Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, remarked that Machado’s Nobel Prize win sends a “strong signal of international validation” for democratic processes that have been overlooked. He noted that such recognition could elevate Machado as a figure upon whom the international community can focus its hopes. “Democratic movements often need a face and a story,” he explained.
The impact of Machado’s situation and the ongoing political climate in Venezuela continues to resonate both within the country and on the international stage, highlighting the complexities of democracy in the region.
