Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will risk everything to travel from hiding to Norway for her Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, defying socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s threats to arrest her as a fugitive.
Story Highlights
- Machado confirms attendance at December 10 Nobel ceremony despite death threats from Maduro regime
- Venezuelan government labels her a fugitive, threatening arrest if she leaves or returns to country
- The opposition leader’s candidate actually won the 2024 election, but Maduro stole the victory through fraud
- Trump administration’s military pressure campaign against drug cartels earns Machado’s support
Democracy Fighter Emerges from Hiding
María Corina Machado has confirmed she will attend Wednesday’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, according to Kristian Berg Harpviken, head of the Nobel Institute. The 58-year-old opposition leader has been living in hiding since challenging Venezuela’s authoritarian socialist regime.
Her spokesman, Santiago Romero, stated logistics are being handled confidentially due to extreme security risks. This represents a courageous stand against tyranny that Americans should recognize and support.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who lives in hiding in her country, has confirmed she will travel to Oslo to receive her Nobel Peace Prize, the head of the Nobel Institute told AFP.https://t.co/YaLPwUcoKv pic.twitter.com/EdhUNlV1W4
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 6, 2025
Socialist Regime Blocks Democratic Process
Machado’s journey to this moment exemplifies the fight against leftist authoritarianism that threatens freedom worldwide. After founding voter rights group Súmate in the early 2000s, she spent years attempting to remove socialist leaders through legitimate elections.
Venezuelan authorities blocked her 2024 presidential candidacy, forcing her to support surrogate candidate Edmundo González. Independent monitors, including the Carter Center, confirmed González defeated Maduro decisively, yet officials declared the dictator the winner anyway.
The regime’s response to electoral defeat mirrors tactics used by authoritarians everywhere: massive repression and persecution of dissent. Maduro’s government arrested over 2,000 protesters challenging their fraudulent election results.
This systematic suppression of democratic opposition demonstrates why supporting freedom fighters like Machado matters for global liberty. Her family’s steel company, Sivensa, faced government expropriation, showing how socialist policies destroy private enterprise and individual prosperity.
Trump Administration Takes Strong Action
Machado’s support for President Trump’s military pressure campaign against Maduro reflects an understanding that strength deters dictators. She praised the escalation strategy, telling Bloomberg News it represents “the only way to force Maduro to understand that it’s time to go.”
Since September 2, the Trump administration has conducted 22 strikes against drug cartel operations, eliminating 87 criminals threatening American national security. These decisive actions demonstrate how strong leadership protects American interests against narco-terrorism.
Critics questioning the strikes’ legality miss the fundamental point: America has the right to defend itself against drug cartels destroying communities nationwide. The administration correctly determined that the United States faces armed conflict with these criminal organizations.
While some dispute Venezuela’s role compared to Colombia or Mexico, any nation harboring drug traffickers targeting Americans deserves consequences. Machado understands that appeasing dictators and criminals only encourages more aggression against freedom-loving peoples.
