Daughter accepts Nobel Peace Prize in Venezuelan opposition leader’s absence
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s daughter has accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her mother’s behalf, hours after officials said Ms Machado would miss the ceremony.
Ms Machado has been in hiding and has not been seen in public since January 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters at a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee, told the award ceremony that “Maria Corina Machado has done everything in her power to be able to attend the ceremony here today – a journey in a situation of extreme danger”.
“Although she will not be able to reach this ceremony and today’s events, we are profoundly happy to confirm that she is safe, and that she will be with us here in Oslo,” he said to applause.
WATCH LIVE: The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony from Oslo.
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) December 10, 2025
Where are you watching from?
Production: NRK (Norsk Rikskringkasting AS)https://t.co/TjKYQm2Zne
The director of the Norwegian Nobel institute and Ms Machado’s spokesperson said earlier on Wednesday that she would not be able to attend the ceremony. Her daughter Ana Corina Sosa did instead.
Ms Machado said in an audio recording of a phone call published on the Nobel website that many people had “risked their lives” for her to arrive in Oslo.
“I am very grateful to them, and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people,” she said before indicating she was about to board a plane.
“I know that there are hundreds of Venezuelans from different parts of the world that were able to reach your city that are right now in Oslo, family, my team, so many colleagues,” Ms Machado added.
"Freedom is not something we wait for, but something we become. It is a deliberate, personal choice, and the sum of those choices forms the civic ethos that must be renewed every day."
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) December 10, 2025
Maria Corina Machado's words were delivered today in Oslo by her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa… pic.twitter.com/xmEMDbWiqO
“And since this is a prize for all Venezuelans, I believe that it will be received by them. And as soon as I arrive, I will be able to embrace all my family and my children that I’ve have not seen for two years and so many Venezuelans, Norwegians that I know that share our struggle and our fight.”
Prominent Latin American figures attended the event in a signal of solidarity with Ms Machado, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino and Paraguayan President Santiago Pena.
The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on October 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness”.
Ms Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge President Nicolas Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez took her place.
The lead-up to the election on July 28 2024 saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner.
Mr Gonzalez, who sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest, attended Wednesday’s ceremony, which was overlooked by a large portrait of Ms Machado.
UN human rights officials and many independent rights groups have expressed concerns about the situation in Venezuela, and called for Mr Maduro to be held accountable for the crackdown on dissent.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
