After months in hiding, Venezuelan opposition leader Machado reappears as a Nobel laureate

OSLO Norway AP Venezuelan opposition leader Mar a Corina Machado appeared in citizens for the first time in months early Thursday morning when she waved to supporters from a hotel balcony in Norway s capital hours after her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf Machado and her supporters then sang Venezuela s national anthem before she left the hotel to shake their hands People erupted in cheers and began chanting Freedom Freedom and Thank you Thank you Machado dressed in jeans and a puffer jacket spent several minutes outside the hotel where she was joined by members of her family and several of her closest aides She hugged plenty of in the crowd amid chants of President President I want you all back in Venezuela Machado revealed as people lifted their cellphones to take pictures Machado had been in hiding since Jan when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas Venezuela s capital She had been expected to attend the award ceremony Wednesday in Oslo where heads of state and her family were among those waiting to see her Machado announced in an audio recording of a phone call published on the Nobel website that she wouldn t be able to arrive in time for the ceremony but that numerous people had risked their lives for her to arrive in Oslo Her daughter Ana Corina Sosa accepted the prize in her place She wants to live in a free Venezuela and she will never give up on that purpose Sosa explained That is why we all know and I know that she will be back in Venezuela very soon J rgen Watne Frydnes chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee communicated the award ceremony that Mar a Corina Machado has done everything in her power to be able to attend the ceremony here in the current era a journey in a situation of extreme danger Although she will not be able to reach this ceremony and nowadays s events we are profoundly happy to confirm that she is safe and that she will be with us here in Oslo he commented to applause Machado explained in an audio recording of a phone call published on the Nobel website that she would not be able to arrive in time for the ceremony but that several people had risked their lives for her to arrive in Oslo I am very grateful to them and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people she commented before indicating that she was about to board a plane Machado noted that since this is a prize for all Venezuelans I believe that it will be received by them And as soon as I arrive I will be able to embrace all my family and my children that I ve have not seen for two years and so plenty of Venezuelans Norwegians that I know that share our struggle and our fight Show of solidarity Prominent Latin American figures attended Wednesday in a signal of solidarity with Machado including Argentine President Javier Milei Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Panamanian President Jos Ra l Mulino and Paraguayan President Santiago Pe a The -year-old Machado s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was broadcasted on Oct Watne Frydnes revealed that Venezuela has evolved into a brutal authoritarian state and he described Machado as one of the the greater part extraordinary examples of civilian courage in latest Latin American history Machado won an opposition primary voting and intended to challenge President Nicol s Maduro in last year s presidential voting but the authorities barred her from running for office Retired diplomat Edmundo Gonz lez took her place The lead-up to the vote on July 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 Gonz lez who sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest attended Wednesday s ceremony U N human rights representatives and multiple independent rights groups have expressed concerns about the situation in Venezuela and called for Maduro to be held accountable for the crackdown on dissent Fight for freedom More than anything what we Venezuelans can offer the world is the lesson forged through this long and complex journey that to have democracy we must be willing to fight for freedom Sosa noted as she delivered the lecture written for the occasion by her mother The speech didn t refer to the current tensions between Washington and Caracas as U S President Donald Trump continues a military operation in the Caribbean that has killed Venezuelans in international waters and threatens to strike Venezuela Machado has consistently endorsed Trump s strategy toward Venezuela Among various heroes of this journey honored in the lecture Sosa mentioned the leaders around the world who joined us and defended our cause but didn t elaborate Watne Frydnes disclosed of authoritarian leaders like Maduro that your power is not permanent Your violence will not prevail over people who rise and resist Mr Maduro accept the electoral contest aftermath and step down he revealed Past winners unable to attend Five past Nobel Peace Prize laureates were detained or imprisoned at the time of the award according to the prize s official website greater part not long ago Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi in and Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski in The others were Liu Xiaobo of China in Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in and Carl von Ossietzky of Germany in Gustavo Tovar-Arroyo a Venezuelan human rights activist who was forced to flee into exile in announced that Machado s supporters did the best for her to be here as she deserves But we knew the peril He added that they are disappointed that she cannot be in the ceremony but this is part of what we do when we fight against a dictatorship a tyranny or a criminal regime So we are used to it