Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado makes appearance in Oslo

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in public in Norway for the first time in 11 months on Thursday, and her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

Machado had been in hiding since January 9, when he was briefly detained after joining his supporters in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. His recognition came after a peaceful challenge to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The crowd chanted “Freedom!” he chanted. Machado stepped onto his hotel balcony in Oslo, Norway, and waved to his supporters before joining them in singing Venezuela’s national anthem.

In an audio recording of the phone call published on the Nobel website, Machado said he would not be able to get to Oslo in time for the award ceremony but that many people “risked their lives” to get him there.

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“I’m very grateful to them, and it’s a measure of what this recognition means to the people of Venezuela,” he said.

In her place, her daughter Ana Corina Sosa accepted the Nobel Prize, saying that her mother “wants to live in a free Venezuela” and “will never give up this goal.”

“So we all know, and I know that he will return to Venezuela very soon,” Sosa added.

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The daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ana Corina Sosa accepted the award on behalf of her mother, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony held at Oslo City Hall, Norway, on December 10. (Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB Scanpix, Repository via AP)

Machado was among those taking photos outside the hotel and shouting at him: “President! President!” He interacted with and embraced people in the cheering crowd.

“I want you all to go back to Venezuela,” Machado said.

Machado’s appearance comes after President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States had seized a Venezuelan oil tanker; It was a move that could further strain relations with Maduro’s government, which is already subject to sweeping U.S. sanctions targeting the country’s oil sector.

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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures during a protest before President Nicolás Maduro is inaugurated for his third term on Friday in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 9, 2025. (REUTERS/Maxwell Briceno)

Since September, US military strikes have targeted alleged drug traffickers near Venezuela at least 22 times, killing 87 people. Trump also recently said Maduro’s “days are numbered” and refused to rule out a ground operation in Venezuela.

Steve Yates, senior research fellow for China and national security policy at The Heritage Foundation, said Wednesday on “Fox News @ Night.” Machado’s visit overseas It was an opportunity to gain “more international support” for his cause, he added, and Trump could benefit from more of America’s allies in Europe supporting a “non-occupation” approach.

The Venezuelan opposition leader has previously publicly voiced his support for the Trump administration’s actions against the Maduro regime and the country’s drug trafficking network.

After the award was announced in October, the newly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner dedicated the award to both Trump and the “suffering people of Venezuela.”

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The Venezuelan ship was destroyed during the US military attack on Venezuela on September 2, 2025. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)

Machado said in a “Fox & Friends Weekend” interview last month that Venezuela stands “on the brink of freedom,” underlining his new “freedom manifesto” that envisions a future without the Maduro regime.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips and the Associated Press contributed to this report.