Written by: Sofia Anderssen – Latin America Correspondent
Oslo / Caracas – María Corina Machado has finally stepped into the spotlight the world expected to see her in – as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate – only to announce that she is preparing to disappear again.
After an 11-month ordeal in hiding inside Venezuela, the opposition leader appeared in Oslo in the early hours of Thursday, emotionally greeting supporters from a hotel balcony and later speaking alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Her announcement comes after extensive reporting from Bloomberg revealed the scale of her secret escape.
“They will not know where I am”
At a news conference in Oslo, Machado described the tightrope she is walking: celebrated abroad as a symbol of democratic resistance, yet still a fugitive in her own country. Machado told reporters she believes Maduro’s security forces never discovered her hideout in Venezuela.
“When I go back, there are two possibilities,” she said. “If the regime is still in power, I will be with my people and they will not know where I am. We have ways to do that.”
For months, even the Nobel Committee said it was uncertain whether Machado would attend the ceremony. The committee confirmed her journey in a public statement describing her travel conditions as “extremely dangerous.”
A dangerous escape by sea
Machado declined to give a full account of her escape, saying that doing so could endanger those who helped her. However, as first reported by Reuters , she left Venezuela on Tuesday, travelling by boat to Curaçao. Bad weather delayed the crossing, causing her to miss the formal Nobel ceremony in Oslo.
The Nobel Institute confirmed that Machado completed “a journey in a situation of extreme danger” to reach Norway. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the award on her behalf to a standing ovation.
“One day I will be able to tell you,” Machado said. “It was quite the experience.”
Nobel recognition for a long fight
Machado received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership in the Venezuelan pro-democracy movement. The Nobel Committee cited her role in unifying opposition groups and her insistence on peaceful resistance, as detailed in the official Nobel Prize summary .
International reaction has been strong. The United Nations welcomed the award, reiterating the need for democratic institutions in Venezuela. More details can be found in the UN’s official statement .
Tanker seizure raises the stakes
Machado’s Oslo appearance coincided with the US interception of a sanctioned oil tanker connected to Venezuelan and Iranian crude exports. According to Reuters reporting on the tanker seizure , the operation targeted a vessel involved in the so-called “dark fleet” of sanctioned oil shipments.
Former US President Donald Trump warned he “wouldn’t be happy” if the Maduro government arrests Machado when she returns to Venezuela. The tanker seizure video was released by the US Department of Justice .
“We ask the international community to cut those sources [of funding],” Machado said, adding that Venezuela “has already been invaded” by criminal networks and foreign influence.
Back to uncertainty – and back to hiding
Machado went into hiding in early 2025 after the disputed election and the government crackdown that followed. Despite winning the opposition primary, she was banned from the presidential ballot. Additional background is available in Guardian reporting .
Her emotional reunion with her children in Oslo brought rare visibility to a woman who has spent nearly a year in the shadows. But she made it clear that her new global profile will not keep her outside Venezuela for long.
By choosing to return to the underground network that kept her alive, Machado is making a calculated gamble: that her presence inside the country—hidden, mobile and unpredictable—is a more powerful symbol than exile abroad.
Outbound source links: Bloomberg, Reuters, NobelPrize.org, UN News, The Guardian, US DOJ.
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