Venezuela opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado didn’t arrive in Oslo, Norway, in time to receive her award on Wednesday, but she was able to escape Venezuela.
Machado, who has been in hiding for over a year and has not made a public appearance in 11 months, reportedly safely arrived in Oslo on Wednesday, hours after the award ceremony took place. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the prize on her mother’s behalf at the official ceremony, and said she would finally be able to “embrace” her award-winning mother after enduring “16 months of living hell.”
“More than anything, what we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and difficult journey — that to have democracy, we must be willing to fight for freedom,” Sosa said in her speech, the Associated Press reported.
“She wants to live in a free Venezuela, and she will never give up on that purpose,” Sosa said about her mother during the ceremony. “That is why we all know, and I know, that she will be back in Venezuela very soon.”
Machado was reportedly involved in a daring escape plan to get her safely out of Venezuela, according to the Associated Press. After nearly a year in hiding from the regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, Machado wore a disguise to violate her home country’s travel ban. She avoided detection at 10 military checkpoints and was able to make her way to a fishing boat, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. authorities had to be notified that she was on the boat so as not to be confused with a suspected drug-trafficking vessel by the U.S. military.
She reportedly took a flight from the island of Curacao and traveled to Bangor, Maine, to refuel, according to the Wall Street Journal. She then departed for Oslo, Norway, arriving there early Thursday morning. Her escape plan had been in development for two months to ensure she would be able to avoid capture by Maduro’s regime.
During a press conference in Oslo, Machada was asked if she suspected Maduro’s government had any knowledge of her whereabouts while she was in hiding or her escape plan.
“I don’t think they have known where I have been,” Machado said. “Certainly, they would have done everything to stop me from coming here. And actually, I want to take advantage of your question to thank all those men and women that risked their life so I could be here today.”
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER MACHADO CANCELS PRESS CONFERENCE DAY BEFORE AWARD CEREMONY
“One day, I will be able to tell you because certainly I don’t want to put them in risk, right now,” she added. “It was quite an experience, but I think it’s worthwhile being here with you, telling the world, what’s happening in Venezuela.”
“When you fight for freedom, you’re fighting for humanity,” Machado said. “And when we win, because we will, this will be an extraordinary example for those countries that today do not have freedom.”
“Venezuela will be free,” she said. “Of course it’s worthwhile.”
