Machado's daughter receives Nobel Peace Prize in her absence: 'She wants to live in a free Venezuela'

The Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, was received Wednesday in Oslo by her daughter Ana Corina Sosa Machado, because the laureate failed to arrive in time for the official ceremony.

Machado, who is in transit to Norway, expressed her regret in a phone call with the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes. The conversation was released by the organization moments before the start of the event.

"I am very sad and very sorry for not being able to make it in time for the ceremony," the oppositionist stated in the broadcast message. She also highlighted the sacrifice of those who have collaborated in her trip: "Many people have risked their lives so that I can get to Oslo."

The recognition to Machado is framed in her role as a central figure of the Venezuelan opposition, highlighted by her defense of democracy and human rights in a complex political context involving internal tensions and international diplomatic pressures, including the attention of countries such as the United States and Norway, the committee recalled.

She will return "very soon" to her country

Venezuelan opposition leader will arrive in Oslo "in a few hours," but will return "very soon" to her country, her daughter said Wednesday as she collected the Nobel Peace Prize in her place.

"She wants to live in a free Venezuela, and she will never give up that purpose. That is why we all know, and I know, that she will be back to Venezuela very soon," Ana Corina Sosa Machado said at the ceremony organized in the Norwegian capital.

Machado's absence was confirmed in the morning by the director of the Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, quoted by the Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Later, the president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, reiterated that the laureate would not attend due to "logistical and security" reasons, although he assured that he was "optimistic" about her participation in other events of the program.

However, Machado herself said she was in transit to Oslo.

A regular representative

The first-born of the opposition, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, has already assumed this role on multiple occasions. She has received on her behalf awards such as the Sakharov 2024, the Heroes of Democracy 2025 and the Americas Society Gold Medal.

From the lobby of the Grand Hotel, where relatives and allies have gathered to wait for Machado, the leader's 84 year old mother, Corina Parisca, also expressed her grief. "We miss you very much, but we know you are here: in a little corner of the soul of each of us," she said.

Expectation and tension

Until Tuesday night, Machado was expected to arrive in time for the ceremony. Her whereabouts, however, remained unconfirmed.

A press conference had even been scheduled for Tuesday, but was canceled after the recipient could not arrive in Norway. The Nobel organization insisted that Machado's trip is taking place under conditions of "extreme danger."

International leaders present

Despite the absence of the laureate, the ceremony was attended by several Latin American leaders, Javier Milei, José Raúl Mulino and Santiago Peña, as well as political figures such as U.S. Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar and Spanish Congresswoman Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo.

Machado's family traveled to Oslo last Monday to accompany her in this historic recognition: she is the first Venezuelan woman to receive a Nobel Prize. For now, the expected reunion between the opposition and her family will have to wait until Machado herself finally arrives in Norwegian territory.