The press conference scheduled for Tuesday in Oslo with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado has been definitively canceled, the Nobel Institute in the Norwegian capital announced. This decision comes after the organization announced earlier that the press conference had been postponed, without specifying the time or the reasons for the cancellation. The Nobel Institute indicated that any new date would be announced to the media “at least two hours in advance.”
Nobel Institute spokesman Erik Aasheim explained that “María Corina Machado herself has said how difficult it was to come to Norway. We hope she will attend the Nobel Prize ceremony,” which is scheduled for Wednesday at Oslo City Hall. The previous Saturday, the institution had confirmed that Machado, the 58-year-old Venezuelan opposition leader, had confirmed her trip to attend the awards ceremony by telephone.
However, Machado's whereabouts remain unknown, as she has been in hiding since August 2024, following the presidential elections in Venezuela. Machado's public appearance in Norway would represent her first since January 2025, when she participated in a demonstration in Caracas. Machado went into hiding after Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third term in an"unconstitutional" manner following what she denounced as electoral fraud. She stated that Maduro usurped the victory of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and presented copies of the ballots as evidence, claims that the government rejected.
Machado's arrival in Oslo has been shrouded in uncertainty, given the air connectivity crisis affecting Caracas due to the cancellation of several international flights and warnings from the United States about the risks of flying over the region because of a US military deployment in the Caribbean. The Nobel Institute did not provide details about how she left the country, while speculation about her travel arrangements continues.
Several family members and Latin American political leaders are already in Oslo to support the Venezuelan leader. Among those in the city are Machado's mother, Corina Parisca, her sister Clara Machado, and her daughter Ana Corina Sosa, who expressed being"full of excitement and pride" at the honor. The arrival of the President of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, has also been confirmed, and the arrival of the Argentine President, Javier Milei, is expected, while the Paraguayan President, Santiago Peña, will travel on Wednesday to join the continental delegation.
Edmundo González Urrutia, a Venezuelan opposition leader exiled in Spain, who was a candidate in the 2024 presidential elections in which Machado was barred from participating, will attend the ceremony at Oslo City Hall. Other attendees include Venezuelan cultural and political figures in exile.
In Venezuela, the secretary general of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, dismissed the Nobel Peace Prize, calling it an “auction” awarded “to the highest bidder.” Cabello stated in remarks reported by EFE and AFP that he was unaware of details about the ceremony in Oslo and reiterated that he would not participate in “that auction.” Cabello has maintained for months that Machado is out of the country, while her entourage and the media continue to keep her whereabouts a mystery. Those attending the ceremony will receive a gold medal, a diploma, and a sum of US$1.2 million.
