MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Machado finally makes it to Oslo

Machado is expected to deliver a message on Thursday

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado finally made it to Oslo, albeit not in time to attend the ceremony where she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, her daughter Ana Corina Sosa Machado taking her place.

¡Oslo, aquí estoy! pic.twitter.com/tsixUerj0q

— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) December 11, 2025

In any case, her arrival dispelled intense speculation about her safety and whereabouts after 16 months in hiding from Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Machado completed a highly clandestine and complex journey out of Venezuela and arrived in Oslo on Thursday morning. Her trip reportedly began on Tuesday when she secretly left Venezuela's western coast by boat for the nearby Caribbean island of Curaçao, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In a phone call with Nobel Committee Chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes hours before the ceremony, Machado confirmed she was en route: “I will not be able to arrive in time for the ceremony, but I will be in Oslo. I am on my way to Oslo right now.” She added that “many people” had risked their lives to facilitate her high-risk travel.

Machado traveled by sea from the Venezuelan coast to Curaçao, a Dutch Caribbean island just 65 kilometers offshore, when she boarded a private Embraer Legacy 600 jet, reportedly based in Mexico and operated by JetVip Business Aviation. The aircraft flew from Curaçao to Bangor International Airport in Maine, USA, for a technical stopover. The final six-hour flight delivered Machado to Oslo Gardermoen Airport around midnight.

The secrecy surrounding the travel was intentional, with allies working to protect Machado, who faces a long-standing ban on leaving Venezuela, where the Chavistas have imprisoned or exiled over a hundred of her collaborators.

Upon her early morning arrival, Machado appeared on the balcony of the Grand Hotel in Oslo, where she was reunited with family, friends, political allies, and dozens of Venezuelans who had waited for hours.

Machado is expected to deliver a message on Thursday. Uncorroborated sources hinted that retired diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia could be sworn in as Venezuelan President in exile in the coming hours. González Urrutia, who fled Venezuela after claiming victory in the July 2024 elections, did attend Machado's Nobel ceremony.