Overview
- María Corina Machado reappeared in Oslo hours after missing the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, greeting supporters and meeting Norway’s prime minister and the Nobel Committee.
- The opposition leader left Venezuela in disguise, slipped through ten military checkpoints, crossed by fishing skiff to Curaçao, and flew by private jet to Norway with a refueling stop in Bangor, Maine.
- She said she intends to take the prize back to Venezuela at an unspecified time, acknowledging the risks of arrest and reiterating her goal of ending what she calls a tyranny.
- Machado acknowledged receiving some U.S. support for her escape without giving details, as reports described the operation alerting the U.S. military and flight data showed Navy F-18s near her sea route while officials denied direct coordination.
- Tensions rose as the United States seized a sanctioned Venezuelan-linked tanker, which Washington tied to illicit networks and Caracas condemned as international piracy.