Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado made her first public appearance in 11 months on Thursday, arriving in Oslo to a jubilant crowd following her daughter’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Machado, 58, an industrial engineer and prominent critic of the Maduro regime, has been in hiding since being barred from running for president and has faced a decade-long travel ban.
As Machado entered the lobby of Oslo’s Grand Hotel, home to Nobel laureates, applause erupted. Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes announced her arrival and noted she had met with family members, promising details of the schedule for the following day. Machado shared videos and photos on social media, posting from a hotel balcony: “Oslo, here I am!” and “The hug that all of Venezuela needs.”
Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, 33, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother’s behalf on Wednesday, reading a speech emphasizing the importance of democracy for peace. “What we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey: that to have a democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom,” she said.