Sawt Falasteen - Machado's mother says hopes daughter will collect Nobel in person

"Every day I pray the rosary, I ask God the Father, the Virgin, both together, that we may have Maria Corina tomorrow," Corina Parisca de Machado said after arriving at the airport in Oslo ahead of Wednesday's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

"And if we don't have her tomorrow, it is because that is God's will," the 84-year-old said, adding that she hadn't seen her daughter in a year.

Machado was awarded the Nobel on October 10 for her efforts to challenge the iron-fisted rule of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president since 2013.

Machado, 58, has accused Maduro of stealing the July 2024 presidential election she was banned from standing in, a claim backed by much of the international community.

In hiding since August 2024, Machado is expected to receive her prize in person on Wednesday, the director of the Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, told AFP on Saturday.

Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, said last month that Machado would be considered a "fugitive" if she travelled to Norway to accept the prize.

"By being outside Venezuela and having numerous criminal investigations, she is considered a fugitive," Saab told AFP, adding she is accused of "acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, terrorism."

Machado's mother told AFP she had been stunned to learn her daughter had won the prize.

"I would never have imagined it. I had heard and read that she had been nominated" for the award, she recalled.

"I thought: 'Caramba! (Wow!) What a wonderful day that would be, but it's so hard,'" she added.

"And then, when it happened, one of my daughters came to see me where I was asleep. At 7:00 am, she woke me up... It's the only time I've ever been woken up at 7:00 am without getting mad."

Several Latin American leaders, including Argentine leader Javier Milei -- an ally of Trump -- are expected to attend Wednesday's ceremony at Oslo City Hall.

Machado is also scheduled to hold a press conference at the Nobel Institute on Tuesday at 1:00 pm (1200 GMT).

Heavy security was already visible around parts of Oslo ahead of the ceremony, though it was not known if Machado had already arrived in Norway.

I.Saadi--SF-PST