Miguel Gutierrez / EPA
The leader of the Venezuelan opposition to Nicolás Maduro, Maria Corina Machado
A press conference was scheduled for this Tuesday, the day before the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo.
A press conference planned for today by the leader of the Venezuelan opposition and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Corina Machadohe was canceled after a delay of several hours, on the eve of the awards ceremony in Oslo.
María Corina Machado, who has not appeared in public for 11 monthsa press conference should be held this afternoon, as laureates usually do the day before the formal award ceremony.
However, the event, scheduled for lunchtime, was postponed without explanation and, three hours later, the Norwegian Nobel Committee reported that “it will not happen today”.
“María Corina Machado has already stated in interviews how challenging will be the trip to Oslo, Norway,” said the committee in an email sent to newsrooms.
“Therefore, We cannot, at this time, provide further information about when and how he will arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony”, he added.
The committee did not specify whether the press conference would take place at another time.
The victory of the opponent of the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been fighting for a democratic transition in his country, was on October 10, and María Corina Machado, 58 years old, was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning in the midst of growing darkness”.
The Nobel committee explained the decision with the opponent’s “tireless work” “in promoting the democratic rights of the people of Venezuela” and the “struggle to achieve a fair and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
At that time, María Corina Machado, who lives in hiding, warned that while Nicolás Maduro is in power, he cannot leave the place where he is “for security reasons”.
Although he later decided to go to the ceremony, he said that, if he was unable to attend, the award would be received by the presidents of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and Panama, José Raúl Mulino.
