OSLO – Venezuelan opposition leader and newly minted Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado reappeared publicly last night for the first time in nearly a year. Through an Instagram livestream, viewers watched as she stepped onto the balcony of Oslo’s Grand Hotel, waving to dozens of supporters gathered below. Moments later, she crossed the security barriers to greet them in person.
Machado, 58, had been living in hiding for months and was forced to leave Venezuela covertly, defying a ten-year travel ban imposed by the Maduro government. According to international media reports, she traveled through Curaçao before flying to Norway — arriving too late to attend the official Nobel Prize ceremony. Her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.
“Sixteen months without hugging anyone”
In an interview with the BBC, Machado described the deeply emotional moment of reuniting with her loved ones in Oslo.
“I haven’t been able to hug or touch anyone for sixteen months,” she said. “Suddenly, within hours, I was able to see the people I love the most, to hold them, to cry and pray together.”
When asked about her next steps, Machado suggested that—for now—her work may continue from abroad.
“Of course I will return,” she said. “I will go wherever I can contribute most to our cause. Until recently, I thought I had to be inside Venezuela, but today I believe that, for our cause, I must be in Oslo.”
Machado described her escape as the result of “state terrorism” by the Maduro regime.
Calls to cut Maduro’s financial lifelines
During a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Machado urged the international community to sever the financial networks that keep President Nicolás Maduro in power.
She did not directly address whether military intervention — such as the recent U.S. seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker — should be considered. But she issued a stark warning:
“Some people talk about an invasion of Venezuela or the threat of one. I want to point out that Venezuela has already been invaded,” she said, accusing Russia, Iran, “terrorist organizations, criminals and drug cartels” of operating freely in the country because Maduro relies on them financially.
“That is why those money flows must be cut,” she added.
Machado’s unexpected appearance in Oslo — after months of silence and speculation — marks a dramatic new chapter in Venezuela’s political crisis and reshapes the international spotlight on the Maduro government.