Machado reaches Norway to collect dubious Nobel prize after slipping out of Venezuela

María Corina Machado’s secretive escape to Norway, after months in hiding in Venezuela and years of courting foreign patrons, has reignited criticism in Caracas that she is once again prioritizing her own ambitions abroad over the country she claims to represent.

Machado resurfaced in Oslo on Thursday, her first public appearance in 11 months, after slipping out of Venezuela by boat to Curaçao in a covert operation coordinated by her allies and enemies of her South American country.

She left Venezuela just a day before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, where she had been expected to appear in person after being awarded the honor for what the committee called her promotion of “democratic rights.”

The Venezuelan politician, being notorious for advocating American and Israeli military intervention in her own country, made the escape despite Venezuela’s attorney general previously warning she would be considered a fugitive if she departed the country, an accusation that now appears justified given her clandestine exit and reliance on foreign protection.

Machado, who had been in hiding since her brief detention during a protest in Caracas on January 9, admitted in an audio call published by the Nobel Committee that “many people” had risked their lives to get her out.

The committee said it had lost track of her whereabouts until shortly before the ceremony, underscoring the secrecy surrounding her movements. Despite her dramatic escape, she failed to arrive in time for the prize presentation, leaving her daughter Ana Corina Sosa to accept the award on her behalf.

Caracas views Machado’s actions as another maneuver aligned with her long-standing connections to Washington, ties she boosted by dedicating her Nobel Prize not only to Venezuelans but also to US President Donald Trump, who is on the verge of launching military aggression on the Venezuelan soil but praised by her for “his decisive support of our cause.”

Her reliance on US political backing, alongside her praise for US military pressure on Venezuela, boosts critics’ arguments that she represents external agendas rather than the needs of Venezuelans on the ground.

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Caracas officials argue that Machado’s self-exile contradicts her stated commitment to return and fight for change from within the country.

Even as she promises to come back, her departure reinforces concerns that she is more invested in international recognition than in the challenges facing Venezuelans who never left.

For the government in Caracas, her escape and refusal to face Venezuelan legal and governmental bodies only highlight her disconnect from the realities of the country she claims to champion, leaving supporters and critics alike to question whether her Nobel moment ultimately serves Venezuela or merely Machado herself.

The US has intensified efforts to push Maduro out, with the Trump administration deploying the region’s biggest American military presence in decades near Venezuela’s coast and permitting lethal attacks on boats it claimed were involved in drug trafficking.

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