Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the institute and its permanent secretary, told broadcaster NRK that the 58-year-old laureate is not in Norway. “She is unfortunately not in Norway and will not stand on stage at Oslo City Hall at 1 p.m. when the ceremony starts,” he said. Asked where she might be, he responded: “I don’t know.”
Machado had been scheduled to receive the prize at Oslo City Hall in the presence of King Harald, Queen Sonja and visiting leaders including Argentine President Javier Milei and Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa. The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. (1200 GMT).
Maria Corina Machado: Face of resistance in Venezuela
Her absence marks a dramatic turn for a figure who had planned to defy a decade-long travel ban imposed by Venezuelan authorities. She has spent more than a year moving in and out of hiding while facing criminal accusations brought by President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Attorney General Tarek William Saab has said Machado would be “considered a fugitive” if she left Venezuela, citing investigations over “acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, terrorism.” Her supporters dismiss the allegations as political retribution.
In keeping with Nobel tradition, when a laureate cannot attend, a close relative usually accepts the award and delivers the lecture. Harpviken said Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, will represent her at the event.
Machado’s Nobel win in October immediately deepened Venezuela’s political confrontation with the United States. Upon receiving the news, she dedicated the prize in part to former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has claimed he deserved the honour himself. “We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy. I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause,” she wrote on X.
Trump, Venezuela’s “main ally”: Machado
In interviews, she has described Trump as Venezuela’s “main ally” and echoed his view of achieving “peace through strength,” positioning herself firmly within the geopolitical standoff that has defined U.S.–Venezuela relations for years. Maduro has long accused Trump of seeking to overthrow him to gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, insisting that Venezuelan citizens and the armed forces would resist any such attempt.
Machado’s supporters see her Nobel recognition as an international validation of her struggle against Maduro’s rule. Her detractors in Caracas portray her as part of a foreign-backed effort to destabilise the government.
Her no-show in Oslo places her at the centre of an intensifying political triangle: her confrontation with Maduro, her alignment with Trump and the escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas. For now, the Nobel Institute says it has no further comment on why the laureate cannot be located, leaving one of the world’s most prominent dissidents absent from one of its most high-profile stages.