Planned appearance by Venezuelan opposition leader called off on eve of Nobel Peace ceremony

OSLO, Norway (AP) – A planned news conference on Tuesday by Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado was canceled after a several-hour delay, a day before the award ceremony in Oslo.

Machado, who last appeared in public 11 months ago, had been due to hold a traditional news conference by the laureate the day before the formal award ceremony. But the lunchtime event was delayed without explanation, until the Norwegian Nobel Institute said three hours after the scheduled time that “it will not take place today.”

“María Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how challenging the journey to Oslo, Norway, will be,” the institute said in an email. “We therefore cannot at this point provide any further information about when and how she will arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.”

The institute did not specify whether the news conference would take place at a later point.

Machado’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about the opposition leader’s location and planned attendance at Wednesday’s ceremony.

The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

Machado won the opposition’s primary election and intended to run against President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.

The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.

González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Meanwhile, Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. The following day, Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term.