Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado secretly left Venezuela by boat towards Curaçao to try to reach Oslo and receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
The leader of the Venezuelan opposition, María Corina Machado, left Venezuela on Tuesday by boat towards Curaçao to try to reach Oslo, Norway, and receive the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal reported today.
According to the newspaper, which cites US Government sources, María Corina Machado secretly traveled to the Caribbean island, located less than 80 kilometers from the Venezuelan coast.
The Venezuelan opponent did not arrive in time to participate in the ceremony held today in the Norwegian capital and it ended up being her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, receiving the award and reading her speech, although she confirmed that she would be in Oslo in the next few hours.
The Nobel Institute reported this afternoon that the leader of the Venezuelan opposition will also not participate in the remaining events this Wednesday, including the gala banquet.
“Machado will not attend either the torchlight procession or the Nobel banquet. We don’t know when he will arrive in Oslo, only that he will come,” said Nobel Institute spokesman Erik Aasheim.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the trip to try to reach Oslo could force María Corina Machado to go into exile, after having spent much of the last year hiding in Venezuela to avoid being arrested by the Government of President Nicolás Maduro.
The opposition leader expressed, however, her intention to return “very soon” to her country after her visit to Oslo.
“We open the prison doors and we will see thousands of innocent people who were unjustly imprisoned come out into the sun,” said Ana Corina Sosa at Oslo City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony took place, after stating that “in a few hours” she would be able to hug her mother after two years.
The traditional torchlight procession organized after the ceremony runs through the center of Oslo until it ends in front of the hotel where the laureate is staying, who usually comes out to salute from the balcony and say a few words.
The Peace Council, which brings together around 20 organizations, refused this year to organize the traditional parade due to its disagreement with the selection of the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner, but the Norwegian Venezuelan Justice Alliance will do so.
