Ana Corina Sosa, daughter of Venezuelan opposition chief Maria Corina Machado, speaks after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her mom on the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at Oslo Metropolis Corridor, Wednesday, in Oslo, Norway. The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Machado for her efforts to carry democracy to Venezuela, difficult the iron-fisted rule of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has been president since 2013. AFP-Yonhap
OSLO, Norway — The daughter of María Corina Machado accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway on her mom’s behalf Wednesday, and mentioned in a speech written by the Venezuelan opposition chief that her nation reveals the world “we have to be keen to struggle for freedom.”
Machado has been in hiding and hasn’t been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after becoming a member of supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee, informed the award ceremony that “María Corina Machado has achieved every part in her energy to have the ability to attend the ceremony right here at the moment — a journey in a scenario of utmost hazard.”
“Though she won’t be able to succeed in this ceremony and at the moment’s occasions, we’re profoundly blissful to verify that she is protected, and that she shall be with us right here in Oslo,” he mentioned to applause.
Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the prize in her place.
“She desires to dwell in a free Venezuela, and she’s going to by no means hand over on that objective,” she mentioned. “That’s the reason everyone knows, and I do know, that she shall be again in Venezuela very quickly.”
Machado mentioned in an audio recording of a cellphone name revealed on the Nobel web site that many individuals had “risked their lives” for her to reach in Oslo.
“I’m very grateful to them, and this can be a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan individuals,” she mentioned, earlier than indicating that she was about to board a aircraft.
Machado mentioned that “since this can be a prize for all Venezuelans, I consider that it will likely be acquired by them. And as quickly as I arrive, I will embrace all my household and my kids that I’ve haven’t seen for 2 years and so many Venezuelans, Norwegians that I do know that share our battle and our struggle.”
Distinguished Latin American figures attended Wednesday in a sign of solidarity with Machado, together with Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
The 58-year-old Machado’s win for her battle to attain a democratic transition in her South American nation was introduced on Oct. 10. Watne Frydnes mentioned that “Venezuela has advanced right into a brutal authoritarian state,” and he described Machado as “some of the extraordinary examples of civilian braveness in current Latin American historical past.”
Machado gained an opposition major election and supposed to problem President Nicolás Maduro in final yr’s presidential election, however the authorities barred her from operating for workplace. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.
The lead-up to the election on July 28, 2024, noticed widespread repression, together with disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That elevated after the nation’s Nationwide Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner.
González, who sought asylum in Spain final yr after a Venezuelan court docket issued a warrant for his arrest, attended Wednesday’s ceremony.
U.N. human rights officers and plenty of unbiased rights teams have expressed considerations in regards to the scenario in Venezuela, and referred to as for Maduro to be held accountable for the crackdown on dissent.
“Greater than something, what we Venezuelans can provide the world is the lesson cast by way of this lengthy and troublesome journey — that to have democracy, we have to be keen to struggle for freedom,” Sosa mentioned as she delivered the lecture written for the event by her mom.
The speech did not check with the present tensions between Washington and Caracas, as U.S. President Donald Trump continues a army operation within the Caribbean that has killed Venezuelans in worldwide waters and threatens to strike Venezuela. Machado has constantly endorsed Trump’s technique towards Venezuela.
Amongst many “heroes of this journey” honored within the lecture, Sosa talked about “the leaders all over the world who joined us and defended our trigger,” however did not elaborate.
Watne Frydnes mentioned of authoritarian leaders like Maduro that “your energy shouldn’t be everlasting. Your violence won’t prevail over individuals who rise and resist.”
“Mr. Maduro, settle for the election outcome and step down,” he mentioned.
5 previous Nobel Peace Prize laureates had been detained or imprisoned on the time of the award, based on the prize’s official web site, most just lately Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi in 2023 and Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski in 2022.
The others had been Liu Xiaobo of China in 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in 1991 and Carl von Ossietzky of Germany in 1935.
Gustavo Tovar-Arroyo, a Venezuelan human rights activist who was compelled to flee into exile in 2012, mentioned that Machado’s supporters “did one of the best for her to be right here as she deserves. However we knew the chance.”
He added that they’re “disenchanted that she can’t be within the ceremony, however that is a part of what we do once we struggle in opposition to a dictatorship, a tyranny or a felony regime. So we’re used to it.”
