Topline
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado will not attend the Nobel ceremony and receive her prize in person, the Nobel Institute told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK on Wednesday, as the Venezuelan opposition leader has been forced to remain in hiding since elections in her country last year while facing threats of arrest.
Venezuelan Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela.
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Key Facts
In a press release, the Nobel Institute said Machado “has done everything in her power to come to the ceremony,” but she “will not be able to reach the ceremony” on time.
The Nobel Prize ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. EST on Wednesday.
The institute said Machado is making a journey to Oslo “in a situation of extreme danger,” but she is safe and “will be with us in Oslo.”
Shortly before the press release, Nobel Director Kristian Berg Harpviken told NRK that he had been holding out hope until Tuesday evening that the peace prize winner would be able to attend the event.
Harpviken said he did not know where Machado was presently and “there are good reasons for that,” adding that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime was oppressive and is “willing to use absolutely all means against the opposition.”
Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, will receive the prize and deliver a speech on her mother’s behalf.
Crucial Quote
“My mother has been living in hiding for 15 months under constant death threats. I don’t know where she is today and we haven’t seen each other in almost two years,” Machado’s daughter, who now lives in New York, told NRK in an interview last week.