OSLO, Norway — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will miss the ceremony to award her the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Wednesday, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said.
Machado last appeared in public 11 months ago. Nobel Institute director Kristian Berg Harpviken told public broadcaster NRK the Venezuelan opposition leader was not in the Norwegian capital on the day of the ceremony and her daughter will accept the prize on Machado's behalf.
The institute did not immediately respond to emails or calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
On Tuesday, a news conference that Machado was expected to attend was canceled after being delayed for several hours.
Prominent Latin American figures planned to attend Wednesday's ceremony in a signal of solidarity with Machado, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, Panama's President José Raúl Mulino and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
Machado has been living in hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela's capital.
The 58-year-old's win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman ''who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.''
Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge President Nicolás Maduro in last year's presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.
