Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize Winner To Be Declared ‘Fugitive’ If She Leaves Country To Accept Award

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize 2025, will be considered a “fugitive” if she emerges from hiding to collect the honour in Norway, Venezuela’s attorney general told AFP.

Machado had earlier expressed interest in attending the ceremony, which will be held in Oslo on December 10. “By being outside Venezuela and having numerous criminal investigations, she is considered a fugitive,” Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab said, adding that Machado was accused of “acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, terrorism”.

Machado, 58, known as Venezuela’s ‘Iron Lady’, is a former presidential candidate and is widely seen as a unifying figure in Venezuela’s once-divided opposition. She won a landslide victory in the opposition’s 2023 primary but was barred from contesting the 2024 election against President Nicolás Maduro, which international observers said was marred by irregularities.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Maria Corina Machado was chosen “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

She was described as a “champion of peace” who has continued to fight for the country’s democratic future despite threats to her life. Machado dedicated her award to US President Donald Trump, who has long publicly called for getting the honour.

Venezuela has been ruled by an autocratic regime for decades and is currently led by President Nicolas Maduro, whose leadership is not recognised by many nations, including the United States. The Trump administration has accused Maduro of working with drug smuggling gangs, and tensions have escalated amid strikes on alleged drug boats and US military assets being moved into the Caribbean.

Machado told CBS News last month that she believed winning the Nobel would give her “a lot of protection” from the Maduro regime. “But the most important thing, is that it highlights, worldwide, the importance of the struggle of Venezuela,” she added.