Nobel Peace Prize Winner Reemerges Abroad After Escape From Venezuela

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed to take her award back to Venezuela, but declined to reveal when she would return after appearing for the first time since secretly leaving the country to receive the honour.

Machado, who spent more than a year in hiding and remains under a travel ban imposed a decade ago, sneaked out of Venezuela in a covert operation to reach Norway.

She arrived in the capital, Oslo, in the early hours of Thursday, missing the previous day’s award ceremony by a few hours.

“I came to receive the prize on behalf of the Venezuelan people, and I will take it back to Venezuela at the correct moment,” she told reporters at the Norwegian parliament, dressed in white. She refused to disclose her expected return date.

The 58-year-old engineer greeted supporters from the balcony of Oslo’s Grand Hotel shortly after her arrival before stepping down to meet dozens who defied the cold to see her.

Machado’s escape from Venezuela came as tensions between the country and the United States intensified.

The Trump administration has, in recent months, launched more than 20 military strikes against vessels it alleges are involved in drug trafficking. On Wednesday, the United States seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, a move that rattled energy markets.

Machado said the Maduro government has turned Venezuela into a “criminal hub” sustained by illicit revenues. She accused authorities of relying on cash flows from drug trafficking, oil smuggling, arms dealing and human trafficking to fund a powerful repression network.

“We need to cut those flows,” she said, speaking alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Asked whether she would support a U.S. invasion, she avoided a direct answer, instead insisting Venezuela had already been “invaded” by Russian and Iranian agents, Colombian drug cartels, and armed groups she said operate with the regime’s cooperation.

Machado has aligned herself with President Donald Trump and hardliners who claim President Nicolás Maduro’s government poses a threat to U.S. national security. When she won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, she dedicated it in part to Trump.

Her appearance in Oslo also came with fresh claims of U.S. involvement in her escape. Machado said she received “support” from the United States to reach Norway but declined to provide details, saying those who helped her could be in danger.

Machado was barred from contesting last year’s presidential election despite winning the opposition primary by a landslide. She went into hiding in August after a wave of arrests targeting opposition figures following the disputed vote.

Although the electoral authority and top court declared Maduro the winner, international observers and the opposition insist their candidate won, citing ballot-level tallies published as evidence.

A report released Thursday by a U.N. Fact-Finding Mission accused Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard of committing serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity over more than a decade. The government has repeatedly dismissed the allegations.

Machado expressed gratitude to those who risked their lives to help her flee the country.

“One day I will be able to tell you, because certainly I don’t want to put them at risk right now. It was quite an experience,” she said.

Despite threats from Maduro’s government to classify her as a fugitive, Machado insisted she would return.

“My duty was to come here and take this Nobel Prize to bring it back to Venezuela—and I’ll be back very soon,” she assured.