Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has made her first public appearance in Norway after 11 months of disappearance.
According to NBC News, the opposition leader on Thursday, December 10, appeared in public for the first time since January, hours after Machado’s daughter received her Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf in Oslo.
Machado, whose whereabouts were unknown since January 9, following brief detention for joining protestors in Venezuela’s capital Caracas, was named as the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2025.
The 58-year-old was scheduled to attend a news conference and award ceremony in Norway's capital on Wednesday. But after she informed them that she would not be able to attend the ceremony, the media talk was called off, and her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the prize in her place.
After receiving the award, Sosa expressed, “She wants to live in a free Venezuela, and she will never give up on that purpose. That is why we all know, and I know, that she will be back in Venezuela very soon.”
Moreover, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, told the award ceremony, “María Corina Machado has done everything in her power to be able to attend the ceremony here today, a journey in a situation of extreme danger. Although she will not be able to reach this ceremony and today’s events, we are profoundly happy to confirm that she is safe.”
He also revealed during the ceremony that Machado would be in Oslo with them.
After the ceremony, Machado, after months of hiding, finally appeared in public from the balcony of the Grand Hotel and waved to the cheering crowd and sang with her supporters and then came out of the hotel to greet them in person.
