María Corina Machado appears in Oslo after receiving Nobel Peace Prize

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado appeared in Oslo, Norway, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, waving from a hotel balcony after months in hiding.

She traveled in secret despite a travel ban and has kept a low profile since Venezuela’s disputed presidential election last year. She was last seen in public at a protest in January.

In an emotional moment in the middle of the night, Machado waved to cheering supporters who had gathered outside the Norwegian capital’s Grand Hotel, blowing them kisses and singing with them.

Then she walked outside and greeted them personally, climbing over the security barricade to get closer to them.

“Maria!” “Maria!” they shouted, holding their phones high to record the historic moment.

Earlier Wednesday, her daughter Ana Corina Sosa Accepting Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of mother.

The Nobel Institute awarded the prize to Machado this year for her “struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy” in Venezuela.

Machado has not seen her children in about two years and sent them out of Venezuela for their safety.

Speaking to BBC’s Lucy Hawkins after her balcony appearance, Machado said she missed their graduation ceremony, as well as the weddings of her daughter and one of her sons.

“For over 16 months, I haven’t been able to hug or touch anyone,” she said in the interview. “Suddenly, within a few hours, I was able to see the people I loved most, touch them, cry and pray with them.”

Speaking to the BBC, Machado, who had many rosary beads hanging around her neck, said they had been given to her outside the hotel.

Machado has long denounced President Nicolás Maduro’s government as “criminals” and called on Venezuelans to unite to overthrow it.

She has long been one of the most respected voices in the country’s opposition but was barred from running in last year’s presidential election, which saw Maduro win a third six-year term. Many countries consider his rule illegitimate.

Last month, Venezuela’s attorney general said If Machado travels to Norway, she will be considered a fugitive Claiming the bonus, she said she was accused of “conspiracy, incitement to hatred and acts of terrorism.”

Details of her journey from Venezuela to Norway were so closely guarded that even the Nobel Institute did not know where she was or whether she would make it to Oslo in time to receive the prize at the ceremony.

Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, described her journey as an “extremely dangerous situation.”

Speaking to the BBC, Friedness, who sat next to her, said it was an “exciting” moment.

“It’s unbelievable that you can come here in the middle of the night,” he said. “It is difficult to describe what this means to the Nobel Committee and to all of us.”

this wall street journal According to reports, in order to escape Venezuela, Machado disguised himself and successfully passed 10 military checkpoints without being caught, and was left on a wooden fishing boat in a coastal fishing village.

The plan was two months in the making and she was assisted by a Venezuelan network that helps people flee the country, according to a person familiar with the matter. The report said the United States was also involved, but it was unclear to what extent.

However, Machado gave no details of her journey when asked by the BBC.

“They (the Venezuelan government) say I am a terrorist and must spend the rest of my life in prison, and they are looking for me,” she said. “So, under these circumstances, it is very, very dangerous to leave Venezuela today.

“I just want to say today that I am here because many men and women risked their lives to get me to Oslo.”

After receiving the peace prize, Machado made a point of praising U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been open about his ambitions to win the peace prize but amid ongoing military tensions with Venezuela.

Wednesday, He announced that U.S. forces had seized an oil tanker off the coast of VenezuelaPressure in Washington on Nicolás Maduro’s government has escalated sharply.

The Trump administration claimed the ship was subject to sanctions and was involved in “illicit oil transportation networks that support foreign terrorist organizations.”

The Venezuelan government accuses the United States of theft and piracy.