Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, will not attend the award ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute confirmed.
Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the institute, told public broadcaster NRK that Machado’s daughter will receive the prize on her behalf. A press conference that Machado was scheduled to attend on Tuesday was also canceled. The opposition leader has not appeared publicly for over 11 months.
Machado, 58, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 10, 2025, for her efforts to promote a democratic transition in Venezuela, described as a “woman keeping the flame of democracy alive amid growing darkness.”
The Venezuelan government, led by President Nicolás Maduro, has imposed a decade-long travel ban on Machado, who has been in hiding for more than a year. She previously won opposition primary elections and intended to run against Maduro in last year’s presidential race, but her participation was blocked. A retired diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez, represented the opposition instead.
The Oslo ceremony will take place at 1:00 PM local time at the City Hall, attended by King Harald, Queen Sonja, and at least four Latin American heads of state, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.
Meanwhile, the Stockholm ceremonies for the Nobel Prizes in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature, and economics are scheduled for Wednesday.
