Venezuela's Nobel Peace Prize winner will not attend Oslo ceremony

Venezuela's 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado will not attend the award ceremony in Oslo following threats from her country's authoritarian leadership, the Nobel Institute said on Wednesday.

Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the institute, told broadcaster NRK that the Venezuelan opposition leader was not in Norway and would not appear on stage for the ceremony.

Machado was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize in October for her commitment to the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people. Traditionally, the prize is presented on December 10 at Oslo City Hall.

However, there had been uncertainty for weeks about Machado's participation due to her situation in Venezuela, where she lives in hiding.

The Venezuelan public prosecutor's office recently threatened to consider the 58-year-old a fugitive if she left the country due to various investigations against her.

She could face arrest, or an entry ban if she returned to Venezuela from Oslo. Machado fears she could be killed if the authorities find her.

"I am doing everything, we are working, doing everything for that day. When that day comes we can meet in Norway, it would be the biggest honour of my life," the critic of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said in an interview with NRK last week.