Published On 11/12/2025
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Last update: 19:18 (Mecca time)
In her first public appearance in more than a year, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, pledged to return to her country despite the risks of arrest, stressing that she will return the award to Venezuela “at the appropriate time” and will continue her struggle to overthrow the “tyranny” led by President Nicolas Maduro.
Machado (58 years old) arrived in Oslo today, Thursday, on a secret trip that defied the travel ban imposed by the authorities a decade ago. She was unable to attend the awards ceremony yesterday, Wednesday, due to the delay, but she confirmed in a press conference in the Norwegian Parliament that she “came to receive the award on behalf of the Venezuelan people,” and that she “will do everything in my power” to return and end Maduro’s rule.
Fugitive from justice
The Venezuelan authorities previously threatened to consider Machado a “fugitive from justice” if she left the country to receive the Nobel Prize, according to Venezuelan Attorney General Tariq William Saab, who indicated that she faces charges of conspiracy, incitement to hatred and terrorism, and supporting the deployment of American forces in the Caribbean.
It is noteworthy that Machado publicly supported the American military presence in the region, which targets boats accused of transporting drugs, which has so far led to the killing of at least 83 people. It also supported Washington’s claim that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro heads a drug cartel.
Machado dedicated the award in part to US President Donald Trump, considering that he was “most deserving of it,” while confirming that she had received support from the US administration to leave Venezuela and arrive in Oslo.
In response to a question about her support for a possible American invasion of Venezuela, she said that her country “has already been subjected to an invasion by Russia, Iran, and drug cartels,” noting that these parties have turned Venezuela into “a hotbed of crime in the Americas.”
Machado expressed her great emotion at meeting her three children in Oslo after a separation that lasted more than two years. She said, almost crying, “I did not sleep all night. I was replaying in my mind the first moment I saw my children.”
Her statements come at a time when tensions are escalating between Venezuela and the United States, as Washington deploys a large fleet in the Caribbean Sea to combat drug smuggling, and Trump announced yesterday, Wednesday, the confiscation of a Venezuelan oil tanker.
The opposition accuses Maduro of fraud in the 2024 elections, which declared the victory of its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, while the European Union, the United States, and several Latin countries refuse to recognize its results.
The Nobel Committee called on Maduro to step down, and the head of the committee, Jurgen Watney Friedens, said, addressing the Venezuelan president, “Mr. Maduro, accept the results of the elections and step down.”
Despite the criminal charges against her for conspiracy and incitement to hatred and terrorism, as well as the risk of arrest, Machado confirmed that she was willing to risk her life to complete the “mission” and establish democracy in Venezuela, stressing that “everyone who speaks the truth in Venezuela puts his life in danger.”