Sawt Falasteen - Machado family, heads of state in Oslo to fete elusive Nobel laureate

A thorn in the side of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Machado has indicated she will accept her award in person on Wednesday at Oslo's City Hall despite the risk of being declared a fugitive for leaving her country.

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

But her visit to Norway is shrouded in mystery and heavy security.

Just hours before her official programme was due to begin, it was still not known whether the 58-year-old, who has lived in hiding in Venezuela since August 2024, had arrived in the Scandinavian country.

Her mother was seen arriving at Oslo's airport on Monday, telling AFP she hoped to see her daughter accept the prize in person but unable to confirm whether it would actually happen.

"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.

"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.

Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Monday he did not know if Maria Corina Machado would travel to Oslo to accept the prize, which he derided.

"We do not know anything. We are not taking place in that auction. It is an auction, the highest bidder wins," he told a news conference.

He said the government would hold a rally the day of the ceremony.

"We have the best of all prizes, which is the people," the minister said.

Machado, 58, was awarded the Nobel on October 10 for her efforts to bring democracy to Venezuela, challenging the iron-fisted rule of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president since 2013.

She 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.

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."

- 'Hero' -

Machado confirmed she would receive her prize in person, the director of the Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, told AFP on Saturday.

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."

Other members of Machado's family, including her sister and daughter, were in Oslo as well.

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

A large police presence was meanwhile seen on Monday outside the Grand Hotel in central Oslo, which traditionally hosts the Nobel Peace Prize laureates, AFP journalists said.

Machado's Nobel comes amid a large US military build-up in the Caribbean in recent weeks and deadly strikes on what Washington says are drug smuggling boats.

US President Donald Trump has recently hinted at potential strikes on Venezuelan territory, but has also made more conciliatory statements.

D.Khalil--SF-PST