Nobel institute to probe possible leaks over peace prize
On prediction betting platform Polymarket, Machado’s odds of winning the award rose from 3.75 percent to almost 73 percent from Thursday to Friday.
However, no expert or media outlet had mentioned that he was among the favorites for the award, which was announced a few hours later in Oslo.
“You don’t normally see this in the betting market. This is very suspicious,” data expert Robert Naess told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes told the NTB news agency: “I don’t think there have been any leaks in the entire history of the prize. I can’t imagine that being the case.”
The institute’s director, Kristian Berg Harpviken, told Aftenposten newspaper that the institute would still investigate whether there was any leak: “It is too early to make a definitive judgment on the existence of a leak. However, this is something we will investigate now.” The Nobel Institute did not respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
An extremely limited number of people already know the name of the prize chosen by the five members of the Nobel Committee.
However, in the past, unexpected names of Nobel candidates have appeared in the Norwegian media, fueling speculation about possible leaks, but this has not been the case in recent years.
Opposition leader Machado, who is barred from participating in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential elections, was rewarded “for his tireless work supporting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and his fight to ensure a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” the committee said.
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