At dawn, the news that María Corina Machado would not attend the Nobel Peace ceremony fell like a bucket of ice water among those who had gone to Oslo to accompany her. The general mood improved a few hours later, when a message from him circulated confirming that he was already on his way to the Norwegian capital. Nevertheless, the most symbolic moment of the day came a few hours later, when Jørgen Watne Fryden, director of the Norwegian Prize Committee, read his speech to explain his vision of Venezuela and explain the institution’s support for Machado as the winner: “When people refuse to give up on democracy, they also refuse to give up on peace. The person who deeply understands this truth is María Corina Machado.
There are moments that define a fight, but there are also characters who offer a new perspective on it when needed most. In the current situation in Venezuela, with a destructive regime clinging to power and facing the possibility that only foreign intervention can help end it, Watne Fryden is that character.
The speech of the young human rights defender, who is also general secretary of the PEN Club in his country, was a direct support for the fight that Machado continues to lead. It was predictable, the main thing was to offer a detailed vision of the costs that a dictatorship entails.
Watne Fryden began by siding with the victims, invoking the names of Samantha Sofía Hernández, Juan Requesens and the recently deceased former mayor and opposition leader Alfredo Díaz, all emblematic cases of Venezuelans who suffered repression by the Maduro regime for defending their right to live freely and in democracy.
He then described the brutal methods that Chavismo uses against dissidents:
“Plastic bags pressed over the head. Electric shocks to the genitals. Body blows so violent it’s difficult to breathe. Sexualized violence. Cells so cold they cause intense tremors. Contaminated drinking water full of insects. Screams that no one came to stop.”
Proposing these details at a ceremony dedicated to celebrating peace – and in front of the Norwegian king, the diplomatic corps and several Latin American presidents – may have been seen as downright scandalous. But the sober tone with which he delivered them clearly showed that he was trying to shake the conscience of those who followed the ceremony in front of the town hall where we were. In fact, one of the targets of the speech was the international community, which for too many years has remained indifferent to the cries for help from a desperate population:
“And when Venezuelans asked the world to pay attention, we turned our backs. As they lost their rights, their food, their health and safety – and, ultimately, their own future – much of the world clung to old narratives. Some insisted that Venezuela was an ideal egalitarian society. Others only wanted to see it as a fight against imperialism. Still others chose to interpret reality. Venezuela as a competition between superpowers, neglecting the value of those who seek freedom in their own country. All these observers have something in common: the moral betrayal of those who actually live under this brutal regime.
We must understand that, for Jørgen Watne Fryden, pursuing without hesitation those who have taken the opposite path while a people is tortured and harassed by an illegitimate power is not a simple gesture.
Watne Fryden survived the massacre of July 22, 2011, which left 77 people dead in Oslo and on the island of Utøya. Having experienced the trauma of ideological extremism – in this case right-wing – led him to focus on extremism prevention, freedom of expression and civic education. These three ways of promoting democracy were present in the historical and political depth of his speech, but especially in his refusal to soften the condemnation of the dictatorship’s fraud against the Venezuelan vote in the 2024 presidential election. It is therefore not strange that the director of the Nobel committee crossed the conventional limits of a protocolary act by firing his largest missile directly at the dictator:
“Mr. Maduro: You must accept the election results and resign from your position. You must lay the foundations for a peaceful transition to democracy. Because that is the will of the Venezuelan people.”
The prize committee’s exhortation in the voice of its director can be interpreted as a call to the world’s democratic governments to move forward and increase pressure to end the Chavista regime. But it is also a huge endorsement for Machado, whom he placed on the same level as great anti-dictatorship fighters such as Sakharov, Mandela and Walesa, who, according to Watne Fryden, “knew the dilemmas of dialogue, but also knew that it could be a trap.”
In other words, the director emphasized that María Corina Machado had conquered her place in Venezuelan politics after maintaining a controversial path marked by ups and downs, but firm in the search for freedom by refusing to side with the Maduro government in dialogues without commitment.
Machado’s physical absence was felt, but Watne Fryden’s tough, luminous plea – and Ana Corina Sosa Machado’s warm delivery on her mother’s behalf – made the trip to Oslo meaningful for those who came from far away.
Although there is no guarantee of what will happen, the ceremony left a clear warning: Venezuela can no longer be ignored. He also gave the democratic struggle its moral dimension, reminding the powerful that they must not remain indifferent to the tragedy of a country. Finally, he made millions of Venezuelans, exhausted but also full of hope, understand that they are not alone. The Nobel laureate spoke and Oslo gave the participants new courage to continue fighting for democracy and peace. This is perhaps why, when leaving the town hall, the icy air was not as heavy and a shy golden sun, still veiled by thick clouds, shone at the bottom of the bay.
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