Nobel winner Machado appears in Oslo, after months in hiding

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado defied a travel ban and made it out of her country secretly. She couldn't make it in time to collect her Nobel Prize in person, but she's finally arrived in Oslo safely.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado arrived in Oslo early Thursday, hours after her daughter accepted the prize on her behalf.

The Venezuelan opposition leader failed to reach the Norwegian capital in time for the award ceremony held earlier Wednesday.

Here are the key points:

• Maria Corina Machado appears in public for the first time in 11 months in Norway's capital, Oslo
• Machado's daughter accepted the award on her mother's behalf to a standing ovation earlier in the evening
• Machado reportedly secretly left Venezuela by boat before flying from Curacao

Machado waves to supporters, appears in public for the first time in 11 months

The 58-year-old opposition leader spent more than a year in hiding after Nicolas Maduro declared victory in elections last year.

Reports say she first traveled by boat to the Caribbean island of Curacao, which is home to a small US military base.

"I can confirm that Maria Corina Machado has arrived in Oslo," Nobel committee head Joergen Watne Frydnes told a group of people gathered at the Grand Hotel.

Frydnes added that Machado would meet her family before making an official public appearance.

Machado's daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the prize on behalf of her mother at the award ceremony on Wednesday. 

She said they would finally be able to embrace after "16 months of living hell."

Machado goes into hiding following Maduro's victory last year

Despite winning the opposition primary, Machado was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. She then went into hiding in August 2024 after authorities expanded arrests of opposition figures following the disputed vote.

Election authorities and the top court declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner, though international observers and the opposition say their candidate won and have published tallies as evidence.

Nobel organizers awaited Machado's safe arrival

A large portrait of Machado hung in Oslo City Hall during the ceremony, and the audience applauded when it was announced by Frydnes that she would soon arrive.

He took to evoking Nelson Mandela and Lech Walesa, as he said democracy activists face moral dilemmas "their opponents never display."

"People living under the dictatorship often have to choose between the difficult and the impossible," he said.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar