image source, Getty Images
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- Author, Kayla Epstein and Tiffany Wertheimer
- Author title, BBCNews
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has been in hiding for months, told the BBC she knows “exactly the risks” she is taking by traveling to Norway to accept her Nobel Peace Prize.
Machado showed up in Oslo in the middle of the night and waved from the balcony of a hotel. It was the first time she had been seen in public since January.
He undertook the trip secretly, even though he was forbidden from leaving the South American country. The Venezuelan government said she would be considered a refugee if she made the trip.
In an emotional moment, Machado greeted fans gathered outside the Grand Hotel in the Norwegian capital, blowing them kisses and singing with them.
She then came out and personally greeted them after crossing a security barrier separating them from the people. “Maria! Mary!” they shouted as they raised their phones to capture the historic moment.
His daughter Ana Corina Sosa had previously accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on his behalf. The Nobel Institute awarded the award this year to Machado for “his fight for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” in Venezuela.
As of Wednesday evening, Machado had not seen her children in about two years, after expelling them from Venezuela for safety reasons.
In his first interview after receiving the Nobel Prize in Oslo, Machado told the BBC’s Lucy Hockings that he missed his school graduations and the weddings of his daughter and one of his sons.
“I haven’t been able to hug or touch anyone for more than 16 months,” he said. “Suddenly, within a few hours, I was able to see the people I love most, touch them, cry and pray together.”
During the interview, Machado wore several rosaries around his neck that he said were given to him by people outside the hotel.
image source, Getty Images
Considered one of the most respected voices in the Venezuelan opposition, Machado has for years condemned President Nicolás Maduro’s government as “criminal” and called on Venezuelans to unite to topple him.
He was barred from running in last year’s presidential election, in which he won for the third time in six years.
The vote was widely rejected internationally as neither free nor fair, and many countries view his government as illegitimate.
The possibility of a military invasion
“We must look at this regime not as a conventional dictatorship, but as a criminal structure,” he told the BBC.
Machado accused the Maduro government of funding itself through criminal activities such as drug and human trafficking and reiterated his call for the international community to help Venezuela cut off “these flows” of illicit resources.
Maduro has always vehemently denied any connection to the cartels.
Asked whether he would support a U.S. military strike on Venezuelan soil given Washington’s recent military crackdowns on suspected drug traffickers, Machado did not answer directly but accused Maduro of “ceding our sovereignty to criminal organizations.”
“We didn’t want war, we didn’t look for it… it was Maduro who declared war on the Venezuelan people,” he added.
Machado claims she and her team are ready to form a government in Venezuela and that she offered to sit down with Maduro’s team to negotiate a peaceful transition, but “they rejected it.”
The BBC asked Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, who stood next to Machado during the interview, whether a possible violent takeover to remove Nicolás Maduro would contradict what the Nobel Peace Prize means for the opposition leader.
He said the responsibility for peace lies with the current Venezuelan government: “The power lies with the Maduro regime, they have the responsibility to ensure that this is a peaceful transition.”
Even after Machado was disqualified in last year’s election, she continued to campaign for the candidate who replaced her on the ballot: Edmundo González.
Maduro was declared the winner even though polling station records showed González winning by a wide margin.
image source, Getty Images
A difficult trip to Norway
Maduro’s government repeatedly threatened to arrest Machado, accusing her of calling for a foreign invasion and being a terrorist for protesting the election results.
Last month, Venezuela’s attorney general said Machado would be considered a refugee if she traveled to Norway to accept her award, claiming she would be accused of “acts of conspiracy, incitement to hatred and terrorism.”
This made his journey to Norway difficult and risky.
The details of the trip were kept so secret that not even the Nobel Institute knew where he was or whether he would arrive in time for the ceremony.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Machado disguised himself to escape Venezuela, passing through 10 military posts undetected and setting sail from a fishing village in a small wooden boat.
The plan took two months, the publication said, citing a person close to the operation, and received the help of a Venezuelan network that supports people fleeing the country.
The USA also took part, although it is unclear to what extent.
Machado did not deny this information to the BBC, but he also did not want to provide any further details about the trip.
“They (the Venezuelan government) say that I am a terrorist and that I should be in prison for life and they are looking for me,” he said. “Under these circumstances, it is therefore very, very dangerous to leave Venezuela today.
image source, Getty Images
“I just want to say today that I am here because many men and women risked their lives for me to come to Oslo.”
Frydnes described his trip to Norway as “a situation of extreme danger”.
He sat next to her during the BBC interview and said it was an “exciting” moment for him.
“In the middle of the night, it’s incredible to have you here,” he said. “It is difficult to describe what it means for the Nobel Committee and for all of us.”
Will you return to Venezuela?
There is much speculation about whether Machado can safely return to Venezuela.
“Of course I’ll be back,” he told the BBC. “I know exactly what risks I’m taking.”
“I will be where I am most useful to our cause,” he continued.
“Until recently I thought that place was Venezuela; the place where I should be today in the name of our cause is Oslo,” he added.
After winning the peace prize, Machado praised U.S. President Donald Trump, who has openly expressed his own ambitions for the same award and continued military tensions with Venezuela.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that the U.S. military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation of Washington’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro’s government.
The Trump administration claims the ship was sanctioned and participated in an “illegal oil transportation network that supports foreign terrorist organizations.”
The Venezuelan government accused the USA of theft and piracy.
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