Peace Prize Organizers Unsure When Peace Prize Laureate Is to Arrive for Award Event

A planned press conference by Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, who is presently in hiding, was cancelled on Tuesday. The award committee stated they are without any clear information regarding her current location.

Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader, has been in hiding since the country's contested 2024 election. She and her supporters maintain the vote was stolen.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to establish democracy to Venezuela and was anticipated to receive in person the award at a ceremony on Wednesday.

Despite regularly posting video updates on social media, typically against a plain white wall, her exact location is a mystery.

"María Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how difficult the journey to Oslo, Norway will be," the Nobel Institute said in a statement. "We therefore are unable to at this point offer any further information about the timing or manner in which she will come for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony."

The institute had previously stated she would attend the ceremony in person. Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman had commented that "everything suggests" the press conference would go ahead despite a delay.

Official Position and Legal Threats

Venezuela's authorities have declared that if Machado departed from Venezuela, she would be deemed a "person fleeing justice" by the authorities. Her family members are already in Oslo.

Last month, Venezuela's top prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, informed a news agency that "By being outside Venezuela and having numerous criminal cases, she is regarded as a fugitive." He added she is facing charges for "alleged conspiracy, incitement of hatred, and terrorism."

Planned Comeback and Public Appearance

Machado had previously told her followers that she planned to go back to Venezuela after collecting the prize.

If she makes it to the ceremony, it would mark her first public appearance since January 2025. Her most recent appearance before cameras was at a demonstration in Caracas on 9 January, against the inauguration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Election Backdrop

Following Venezuela's 2024 election, the opposition groups released tallies indicating they had been victorious, despite Maduro claiming victory. Several nations, such as the United States, have acknowledged its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, as the president-elect. Ms. Machado was banned from participating in that election.