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Machado Would Be Deemed a 'Fugitive' if She Leaves Hiding to Accept Nobel, Venezuela Says

01:27 AM, 11/22/2025
Machado Would Be Deemed a 'Fugitive' if She Leaves Hiding to Accept Nobel, Venezuela Says

Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, would be regarded as a "fugitive" if she leaves hiding to receive the award in Oslo, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said. Machado faces investigations for alleged conspiracy, incitement and terrorism and has supported calls for increased foreign pressure in the Caribbean. The Nobel Committee praised her role in unifying the opposition and promoting democratic rights. Machado says the prize could provide protection and draw international attention to Venezuela's crisis.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, would be considered a "fugitive" if she leaves hiding to travel to Oslo to accept the award, Venezuela's attorney general said.

"By being outside Venezuela and having numerous criminal investigations, she is considered a fugitive," Attorney General Tarek William Saab said, adding that Machado faces allegations including "acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred [and] terrorism." He also said she is under investigation for her support of increased foreign military presence in the Caribbean.

The Nobel Committee awarded Machado the 2025 Peace Prize for "her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy," calling her a "key, unifying figure" in a previously fractured opposition.

Known as Venezuela's "Iron Lady," the 58-year-old has spent more than two decades leading a large political movement that opposes the country's authoritarian leaders. She has been living in hiding inside Venezuela since the disputed 2024 election.

Venezuela has been governed by an increasingly authoritarian administration for years and the 2024 vote was widely rejected as undemocratic by many foreign governments. Some countries instead supported opposition figures such as Senator Edmundo Gonzalez, an opposition politician backed by Machado, who has since left Venezuela.

U.S. officials and other international observers have accused President Nicolás Maduro and his allies of ties to drug-trafficking networks, and tensions have risen amid strikes on vessels alleged to be involved in drug smuggling and the repositioning of U.S. military assets into the Caribbean.

Machado has publicly supported intensified international pressure, describing increased military measures as a "necessary" step toward restoring democratic rule and popular sovereignty in Venezuela.

"Winning the Nobel would give me a lot of protection from the regime," Machado said in a recent interview, adding that the prize's greater value would be to draw global attention to the Venezuelan people's struggle.

Machado has indicated she is considering attending the Nobel ceremony in Oslo on December 10. Any attempt to exit hiding to travel abroad could trigger legal action under current Venezuelan investigations, her legal situation and the government's position make international travel highly risky.

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