Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado greets supporters from the balcony of the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, early on December 11, 2025. ODD ANDERSEN / AFP
Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday, December 11, that the United States helped her get to Norway from hiding in Venezuela, expressing support for US military action against her country and vowing to return home.
Machado, who vanished in January after challenging the rule of President Nicolas Maduro, emerged on a hotel balcony in Oslo to cheering supporters early Thursday after several days of confusion over her whereabouts. "We did get support from the United States government to get here," Machado told a press conference when asked about whether Washington had helped.
The Wall Street Journal reported that she wore a wig and a disguise on the high-risk journey, leaving her hide-out in a Caracas suburb on Monday for a coastal fishing village, where she took a fishing skiff across the Caribbean Sea to Curaçao. The newspaper said the US military was informed to avoid the boat being targeted by airstrikes. Once on the island, she took a private jet to Oslo early on Wednesday.
Subscribers only
