Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, took the stage to accept the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on her mother’s behalf on Wednesday, just hours after officials announced Machado would not be able to attend the ceremony. In October, she was announced as the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, with Donald Trump repeatedly saying she “deserves” the prize, citing his claims to have “stopped seven wars” that eluded the honor.
Machado has been in hiding and has not been seen in public since January 9 this year, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
Machado in Oslo
Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said at the ceremony that “Maria Corina Machado did everything in her power to participate in the ceremony here today – a journey in a situation of extreme danger”.
“While he will not be able to attend this ceremony and today’s events, we are extremely pleased to confirm that he is safe and will be with us here in Oslo,” he said to applause.
The director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and Machad’s spokeswoman said earlier on Wednesday that she would not be able to attend the ceremony. Her daughter Ana Corina Sosa did it instead.
Who is Maria Corina Machado?
Maria Corina Machado has won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her steadfast defense of democracy in Venezuela, beating US President Donald Trump’s odds to win the prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its decision in October 2025.
Maria Corina Machado, born in 1967, has been at the forefront of the fight for democracy amid growing authoritarianism in Venezuela. She is now the leader of the opposition in the country.
Machado studied engineering and finance and briefly worked in business. In 1992, she founded the Atenea Foundation, whose goal is to support street children in Caracas.
Maria Corina Machado said in an audio recording of the phone call posted on the Nobel Prize website that many people “risked their lives” to reach Oslo.
“I am very grateful to them and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people,” she said before indicating she was about to board a plane.
“I know there are hundreds of Venezuelans from different parts of the world who have managed to get to your city, which is in Oslo right now, family, my team, so many colleagues,” added Machado.
“And because it is a prize for all Venezuelans, I believe they will get it. And once I arrive, I will be able to hug my whole family and my children, whom I have not seen for two years, and so many Venezuelans, Norwegians that I know, who share our struggle and our struggle.”
