December 6, 2025. New York Times reports that Venezuelan officials say María Corina Machado will be considered a fugitive if she goes to Oslo, Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.
Just 30 years ago Venezuela was one of the wealthiest and freest countries in South America. Then its people voted for socialism. Today’s Venezuelans are among the poorest and most oppressed people in all of Latin America. The Venezuelan government has seized and stolen countless businesses. Former doctors and lawyers now walk the streets as prostitutes. Starving people break into the national zoo to cook and eat zebras and other zoo animals. Men die in the streets fighting over dollar bills. Censorship is almost absolute. Meanwhile heirs of Hugo Chavez (the corrupt founder of Venezuelan socialism back in 1998) live in Europe as billionaires.
María Corina Machado has courageously forged an opposition movement, openly accusing the socialist government of stealing elections and robbing the Venezuelan people of their liberty and prosperity. Machado has been living in hiding in her country. She indicates she will travel to Norway next week to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, according to a Norwegian official.
Venezuela’s government has said she would be considered a fugitive if she left the country and subject to arrest if she returns.
Machado is a member of a prominent Venezuelan family whose company, Sivensa, was a large steel producer; Venezuela’s government has stolen most of the company. Venezuelan authorities blocked her from running for president in 2024. She shifted her strategy to backing Edmundo González, who trounced President Maduro last year. Nevertheless, Venezuelan officials declared Mr. Maduro the winner. Mr. Maduro’s government then arrested more than 2,000 people for taking part in protests over the stolen election.
