María Corina Machado’s Secret Escape From Venezuela to Accept Nobel Peace Prize

According to Rokna, citing The Washington Post, Machado had been living in hiding for more than a year inside Venezuela, facing criminal charges and restrictions imposed by the administration of President Nicolás Maduro. Publicly barred from leaving the country, she was forced to rely on secrecy and careful coordination to make the journey abroad.

According to accounts of the operation, Machado left her safe location in disguise and traveled overland through several regions of the country. The route reportedly involved passing multiple military checkpoints without detection as she moved toward Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.

From a remote coastal area, she boarded a small fishing vessel and crossed open waters of the Caribbean Sea in a dangerous nighttime journey. Sea conditions were challenging, and the risk of interception was high. After several hours, the vessel reached the island of Curaçao, where Machado continued her journey by air to Europe.

Due to the secrecy and timing of the escape, Machado was unable to attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in person. The prize was instead accepted on her behalf by a family member in Oslo. She arrived in Norway shortly afterward and reunited with supporters and relatives.

In remarks following her arrival, Machado described the escape as one of the most perilous moments of her life, saying she was constantly aware of the possibility of arrest or worse. She emphasized that the decision to leave Venezuela was driven by a desire to give international visibility to the struggle of Venezuelans living under political repression.

Machado has stated that her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize is not a personal victory but a recognition of the broader democratic movement in Venezuela. Despite her arrival in Europe, she has said she intends to continue advocating for political change and has not ruled out returning to her country in the future, despite the risks.

Her dramatic escape has drawn global attention and further highlighted the tense political climate in Venezuela, where opposition figures continue to face legal pressure, travel restrictions, and security threats.