On the eve of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado is conspicuously absent. A traditional press conference with the laureate – normally a set-piece moment before the award – was first delayed for hours and then abruptly canceled, leaving Nobel officials unable to say when, or even if, the 2025 peace prize winner will appear in public.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute said the event “will not take place today” after waiting several hours beyond the scheduled time, citing the “difficulties” Machado herself has described in trying to travel from Venezuela to Norway. Officials have admitted they are effectively in the dark about her whereabouts and whether she will be able to attend Wednesday’s ceremony.
Press conference canceled, questions multiply
Machado, 58, was due to hold the customary news conference for the year’s peace laureate, a stage that usually allows the winner to outline their message before a global audience. Instead, the lunchtime appearance in central Oslo was quietly postponed, then canceled outright about three hours after it was meant to begin.
According to reporting from the Associated Press and other outlets, staff at the Nobel Institute have not confirmed whether Machado has even arrived in Europe. Family members, including her daughter and elderly mother, are in Oslo and were expected to attend the ceremony regardless of whether she can appear in person.
The cancellation has created an unusual vacuum around what is normally a tightly choreographed series of events. A Nobel spokesperson stressed that the ceremony itself will still go ahead, but acknowledged that “serious security” and logistical questions remain around the peace laureate.
A Nobel laureate in hiding
Machado has been largely out of public view for almost a year. She last appeared at a mass demonstration in Caracas on 9 January 2025, protesting President Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration for a third term. Shortly afterwards she went into hiding amid an intensifying crackdown on the opposition, and Venezuelan authorities subsequently opened criminal investigations that her supporters describe as politically motivated.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Machado on 10 October for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” She is only the second Venezuelan ever to receive a Nobel prize.
Before being barred from standing in the 2024 presidential election, Machado won the opposition primary by a landslide and became the central figure in efforts to challenge Maduro’s rule. When she was disqualified, former diplomat Edmundo González took her place on the ballot and later sought asylum in Spain as the pressure on opposition figures mounted.
Travel bans, legal threats and a risky journey
One of the biggest uncertainties has been whether Machado could physically leave Venezuela to accept the prize. Maduro’s government has imposed a years-long travel ban on her, and state media have frequently portrayed her as a “traitor” aligned with foreign interests. Reuters reports that she remains subject to a decade-long ban and multiple charges, including conspiracy and links to alleged plots against the government.
Nobel officials have said that Machado herself warned them how complicated it would be to reach Norway, and human-rights groups have highlighted the risk that, if she leaves the country, she could be labelled a fugitive and jailed should she try to return. That backdrop helps explain why, even after the peace prize was announced, there was never complete certainty that she would stand on the stage in Oslo’s city hall.
Despite those obstacles, Norwegian and international media had reported in recent days that Machado was planning to attend the ceremony, citing diplomatic and government sources. Tuesday’s no-show has therefore deepened the mystery rather than resolved it.
Controversy and divided reactions
The drama over Machado’s absence comes on top of criticism of the Nobel committee’s decision itself. Some commentators and rights organisations argue that awarding her the peace prize risks politicising the institution, pointing to her hard line against Maduro and her past support for foreign pressure on Venezuela’s government.
In Norway, several groups have staged protests and questioned whether Machado meets the spirit of the prize, citing her backing for Western intervention and her vocal support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Supporters counter that the choice recognises the courage of Venezuelans who have faced repression, economic collapse and mass migration under Maduro’s rule.
NobelPrize.org stresses that the committee chose Machado for keeping the “flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness” in Venezuela, highlighting her work documenting alleged electoral fraud and mobilising citizens around demands for free and fair elections.
What happens if Machado never appears?
If Machado does not make it to Oslo in time, the prize can still be formally awarded in her absence. The Nobel Committee has dealt before with laureates who were imprisoned, barred from travel or otherwise unable to attend, though rarely has the uncertainty been this acute on the very eve of the ceremony.
For now, the Nobel Institute is pressing ahead with preparations. Norway’s royal family, senior officials and several Latin American presidents are expected in the hall on Wednesday. Whether the central figure of the day will join them remains unknown – a stark reminder of the risks facing those honoured for confronting authoritarian power.
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