Maria Corina Machado He spent more than eleven years without being able to leave Venezuela. The opposition leader had been banned from leaving the country since the clashes between security forces and demonstrators that occurred during student demonstrations against Chavismo in February 2014. A series of clashes which, according to the prosecution’s accusation, were part of a plan aimed at undermining the life of the president. Nicolas Maduro of which Machado was a part.
“I have no intention of leaving,” said the opposition leader, who also did not take the (well-trodden) road of exile after the July 28 elections last year. An election that, according to voting records collected by the opposition, the seasoned diplomat won easily. Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiathe man chosen by the opposition platform to replace María Corina, disqualified in the electoral vote, but whom Chavismo manipulated to keep Maduro in the Miraflores palace.
Since then, Machado has remained in hiding, in hiding, to avoid arrest suffered by, among other opposition leaders, Juan Pablo Guanipaone of his closest collaborators.
María Corina promised not to abandon Venezuela to continue to counterbalance the regime from within. A priority which only modified the decision of the Nobel Committee to recognize with the Nobel Peace Prize “his tireless work in favor of the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and their struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
The opposition leader made it clear from the first moment that she would not miss the delivery ceremony at Oslo City Hall, and she failed to keep her promise within a few hours. It was his daughter, Ana Corina Sosawho received the award on his behalf.
From Oslo, they apologized for their absence. Machado lives, in the words of Kristian BergHarpvikendirector of the Nobel Institute, “with an outright threat of death from the regime”, a threat that “extends beyond the borders of Venezuela, from the regime and its allies around the world”.
But he arrived at dawn Grand Hotel, where his family and dozens of supporters were waiting for him. On Wednesday, December 11, at 2:30 a.m. (Spanish time), María Corina Machado appeared publicly again.
#WORLD| Currently, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, María Corina Machado, is present in Oslo (Norway). This is Machado’s first public appearance in eleven months, after having lived in hiding facing threats from Chavismo.
Machado managed to leave Venezuela on a boat that arrived in… pic.twitter.com/UgM5dbjHQP
– UltimaHoraCaracol (@UltimaHoraCR) December 11, 2025
She went out to the balcony to greet these compatriots who were waiting for her in the Norwegian cold to sing the Venezuelan anthem in unison, at which point the opponent placed her hand on her chest, visibly excited.
It was then that he decided to take to the streets to directly meet the Venezuelans who had traveled to Oslo, even bypassing security protocols to be able to touch and hug them. Between the cries of “Long live Venezuela”, “Strength, Maria!” and “Freedom!” Machado was able to find refuge after a year in hiding.
abnormal leak
According to The Wall Street JournalMachado left Venezuela on Tuesday by boat and traveled to the Caribbean island of Curacao. His entourage kept the trip in absolute secrecy to protect the security of the opposition leader.
Bloomberg He gave more details about his trip. According to the North American newspaper, Machado left Venezuela by boat on Tuesday, with the help of some members of the regime. He visited Curaçao, a Caribbean island located approximately 64 kilometers from the coast of Venezuela under Dutch sovereignty, at whose airport the United States has a Cooperative Security Center (CLS).
Planes from the United States and its partners in the region could stop at these former forward operating bases as part of the fight against transnational organized crime.
Only bad weather conditions delayed his boat trip and prevented him from being in Oslo this Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. The Dutch government has not yet confirmed the route. The United States and Venezuela have also not commented on the leak.
The path allegedly taken by María Corina is unprecedented. The most similar case was carried out by the Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaza former Chavista judicial operator who fell into disgrace. In August 2017, Díaz left the shores of Venezuela on a speedboat bound for Aruba, another Dutch island in Caribbean waters.
There is only one big difference: the new Nobel Peace Prize winner intends to return to Venezuela. “I want to assure you and all Venezuelans that I will come back,” he told Norwegian public radio last week. NRK. His supporters fear that Maduro will not allow this and that the possibility of remaining in exile will weaken his leadership. It wouldn’t be the first time the scenario was repeated.
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