María Corina Machado climbs over barriers to meet chanting supporters gathered outside the Grand Hotel in early hours of Thursday
Venezuela’s best-known opposition leader, the Nobel peace prize winner María Corina Machado, has made a dramatic appearance in Norway after slipping out of her authoritarian homeland by boat.
The Venezuelan politician and pro-democracy activist stepped out on to the balcony of Oslo’s iconic Grand Hotel at just before 2.30am local time, after spending the past 11 months in hiding in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
Dozens of supporters chanted “Courageous!” and “Freedom!” in front of the hotel and sang the Venezuelan national anthem as she appeared. “Glory to the brave nation, which shook off the yoke!” they cried out.
It was Machado’s first public appearance in almost a year, having been forced into hiding in Venezuela by the country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, after he was accused of stealing the July 2024 presidential election.
