OSLO, Norway — In a dramatic reappearance that captivated international attention, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado surfaced publicly for the first time in eleven months on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate emerged onto a hotel balcony in Norway’s capital, greeting an emotional gathering of supporters who had assembled despite freezing temperatures.
The momentous appearance followed her daughter Ana Corina Sosa accepting the prestigious Nobel award on her behalf just hours earlier. Machado received the honor for mounting the most significant peaceful challenge in years to President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime in Venezuela.
Dressed casually in jeans and a puffer jacket, the 58-year-old leader spent several minutes outside Oslo’s Grand Hotel, embracing family members and close aides as the crowd erupted in chants of “Freedom!” and “President!”. The collective singing of Venezuela’s national anthem created a poignant moment of diaspora solidarity.
“I want you all back in Venezuela,” Machado declared to supporters who raised cellphones to capture her first public appearance since January 9, when she was briefly detained after participating in a Caracas protest before vanishing into hiding.
Her journey to Oslo involved extraordinary circumstances, with flight tracking data indicating her aircraft originated from Bangor, Maine. In an audio recording published on the Nobel website, Machado revealed that many individuals had “risked their lives” to facilitate her perilous journey, describing the recognition as “a measure of what this award means to the Venezuelan people.”
The ceremony itself served as a powerful show of regional solidarity, with attendance from Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, delivered pointed remarks during the award presentation, stating that “Venezuela has evolved into a brutal authoritarian state” while praising Machado as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in recent Latin American history.”
Directly addressing Maduro, Frydnes issued a stark declaration: “Your power is not permanent. Your violence will not prevail over people who rise and resist. Mr. Maduro, accept the election result and step down.”
The background to this recognition stems from Machado’s victory in an opposition primary election and her intended challenge to Maduro in the 2024 presidential race, before being barred from running by the government. Her replacement candidate, retired diplomat Edmundo González, subsequently sought asylum in Spain after Venezuelan courts issued an arrest warrant against him.
Machado joins a distinguished group of Nobel Peace laureates who were detained or imprisoned at the time of their award, including Iran’s Narges Mohammadi (2023) and Belarusian advocate Ales Bialiatski (2022).
In the Nobel lecture delivered by her daughter, Machado’s message emphasized that “to have democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom”—a testament to the ongoing struggle faced by Venezuelan opposition forces despite international recognition.