Arya News - Maria Corina Machado has been living in hiding in Venezuela since the 2024 presidential election.
Nobel laureate and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado confirmed she will travel to Norway next week to collect the honor, the head of the Nobel Institute told Agence France-Presse on Saturday.
Machado, who has been living in hiding in Venezuela since the 2024 presidential election, has expressed interest in traveling to Oslo for the ceremony on Dec. 10.
"I was in contact with Machado last night (Friday) and she confirms that she will be in Oslo for the ceremony," Kristian Berg Harpviken said.
"Given the security situation, we cannot say more about the date or how she will arrive," he added.
Venezuela"s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP last month that Machado would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the peace prize. He added that Machado is accused of "acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, terrorism," and noted that she is under investigation for her support of the United States" deployment of military forces in the Caribbean.
On Sunday, supporters of Machado demonstrated in several cities worldwide to commemorate her Nobel Peace Prize win. Dozens marched through Madrid, Utrecht and other cities, with others expected in more than 80 cities around the world, Machado"s organization said, according to the Associated Press.
Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize in October for "her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." It was Venezuela"s first Nobel Prize .
Known as Venezuela"s "Iron Lady," the 58-year-old Machado has spent more than two decades leading a political movement challenging the country"s authoritarian leaders.
Venezuela has been ruled by an autocratic regime for decades and is currently led by President Nicolas Maduro. His election in 2024 was widely dismissed as non-democratic. Machado has accused Maduro of stealing the election, a claim backed by much of the international community.
The Trump administration has also accused Maduro of working with drug smuggling gangs, and tensions have only grown amid strikes on alleged drug boats and U.S. military assets being moved into the Caribbean.
The Nobel Peace laureate has said the U.S. military presence in the region is a "necessary measure" toward the "restoration of popular sovereignty in Venezuela."
Machado told CBS News in an exclusive interview in October that she believed winning the Nobel would give her "a lot of protection" from the Maduro regime.
"But the most important thing, is that it highlights, worldwide, the importance of the struggle of Venezuela," Machado said.
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