Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Corina Machado addresses a press conference at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, on December 11, 2025. The 58-year-old, who has been in hiding in her home country since June 2024, missed the award of the Nobel Prize in Oslo on December 10. But she waved to supporters from her hotel shortly after arriving during the night. Maria Corina Machado is the lynchpin of opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime, a fearless activist with rock star appeal whose inability to attend her own Nobel prize ceremony underlined the dangers she faces. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)
January 3, 2026
Venezuela’s ‘hour of freedom’ has arrived, says opposition leader
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Saturday the “hour of freedom” had arrived for her country after the United States (US) seized strongman Nicolas Maduro from power.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, who has been in hiding since Maduro’s disputed reelection in July 2024, said in a post on X that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, whom the opposition says won the vote, “must immediately assume his constitutional mandate” as president.
“Venezuelans, the HOUR OF FREEDOM has arrived!” she posted.
