Nobel Peace Prize winner to arrive in Oslo after daughter accepts award | BBC News

Welcome to the Global News podcast on. YouTube, where we go behind the. headlines to find out more about a story. and why it matters. The winner of this. year's Nobel Peace Prize, Maria Corina. Machado, will make an appearance in Oslo. despite having been in hiding for. months. The Venezuelan opposition leader. was unable to make it to today's award. ceremony, but her daughter, Ana Corina. Sosa, accepted the prize in her stead. and gave the speech Machado had. prepared. We're joined today by Norberto.

Paredes from BBC Mundo. Norberto, you've. met Maria Corina Machado. Tell us about her. So, she went into hiding in August last. year after the election that was held in. July. Um um she. was part of the election, and then there. were protests after the electoral. council came. that Maduro had won the election. Um but.

they they did not provide any evidence. to support that claim. Um but what the. government didn't know was that Maria. Corina Machado was collecting the. tallies, and she published them. And. these tallies showed that the opposition. leader, um. Edmundo González, had actually won the. election. Um. So, she. um. after many people went out to protest in. Caracas,

um more than 2,000 people were arrested, and one of them was They tried to arrest. her as well. She She had to go into. hiding, so we have not seen her since uh. January actually this year when she came. out for the first time since August to. take part in a protest against the. government. Because Venezuelan. opposition leaders who do fall into the. hands of the authorities, it can be very dangerous. Yes. So, just. over last weekend actually,

um. as you might have heard, um there was. this opposition leader who was a former. governor of a northern state in. Venezuela. He died in jail. He was put. into jail uh in November last year. And he died. The government says he died. of a heart attack. Uh critics say he was. tortured in prison in a infamous prison. in Caracas. Um. so, Venezuelan people have seen what. happens to many people who oppose the.

government, so they don't really go out. to protest anymore, and that's why Maria. Corina Machado had to go into hiding. And there had been speculation about. whether she would be able to travel to. Norway at all. Yes, she's kept us. guessing since yesterday. Uh um. yesterday morning they said she would. even give um. a press conference yesterday. Uh then it. was it was postponed, then they had to. cancel it. Um just last night that they.

we thought she would be here. Uh she. would be in Oslo. Um. She would be in Oslo giving her speech. and accepting the prize. Uh it was only. this morning when she said that she um. that she could not make it to the. ceremony, but she was going to be in in. Oslo later today. Cuz just the logistics. of getting out of the country a- are. quite a thing. And and when she. eventually tries to get back again, that'll be difficult, too. Yes, we don't. know, and we might never know how she.

got out of the country because the the. government has been looking for her for. quite a long time since August last. year. Um she probably had to smuggle into. Colombia and then take a flight from. Bogotá to Oslo. Um but yeah, that's a. very important question for the. opposition. How does she go back to. Venezuela, and how does she keep. fighting for her movement and the. democracy movement in Venezuela from in. exile? Yeah, you've met her. What's she like as.

a person? She's a very charismatic. leader. Uh I followed her in the streets. of Caracas last year when she was. campaigning, um and she you have to see. how people love her in Venezuela. I saw. people crying. I saw people as soon as. she was walking down the street, people. would call her my queen, my my love. Um. So, she's cultivated this figure, this. like mother of figure for many.

Venezuelans. And she um. she's very charismatic. She She's a very. good communicator. She knows how to talk. to the press. She knows how to um. talk to people and to um. relate to Venezuelan problems. Um. which was a challenge for her because. it's not always been this way. 10 years. ago she was. um she was not liked by most of the. opposition and most of Venezuelan people.

because. many people believed in the narrative uh. told by the government that she was this. woman who was born rich, and she could. not relate to um. the average Venezuelan who is struggling. to make ends meet. Um so, but. her what she she's done is huge in the. sense that she's managed to. um revive, re-energize the the.

opposition in Venezuela after they did. not believe that there was a future. without Maduro like many people didn't. think that it was possible to topple him. because um. Maduro controls um many institutions in. Venezuela, including the electoral. council. Um his people control it, and. that's why um. she's been advocating for fair and free. elections. And the Trump government has. been doing that as well.

She takes enormous risks to lead the. opposition in Venezuela, enormous. personal risks. Why do you think she. does it? Well, she's told. um her daughter said that she believes. in a better future for her, and to she. believes that she can she wants to live. with her family in Venezuela. She wants. to live like. Maria Corina Machado's children live. abroad. Um her mom had to um leave the. country last year and move to Spain.

because she was harassed by the. authorities. So, Maria Corina Machado believes in a. in a Venezuela where um. where they can the opposition can. rebuild the institutions. Um she. believes in. going back to this country that. Venezuela used to be 20 years ago. Uh. Venezuela once had the strongest. democracy in Latin America. It was once. one of the richest countries in Latin. America only 20 years ago. And we have.

lost all all this. We. the country that Venezuela is now is. very different to the Venezuela that. existed in 2007. Um so, she does all this because um she. believes that there's a way, and she. believes in a better Venezuela, and she. wants to give this to people that. believe in her that now are millions of. people. She has come under some criticism for. not condemning the US strikes on alleged.

Venezuelan drug smuggling boats. What's your thoughts on that? Well, do you know she's received a lot of. criticism. Many people don't think that. she deserved the Nobel Prize. um because her speech has not always. been a pacifist one. She's um called for. foreign intervention. Whatever that. means, she's avoided to use the words. invasion. She's never used it. She's. been very careful not to use it. >> Yeah, people have called her a US. stooge. But but when I interviewed her.

in um in October right after it was. announced that she had won the prize, uh. she said a very interesting thing, which. is that um she called for a liberation. She called for Trump to come and. liberate the country. She She argued. that um. that Maduro had already invaded the. country with um Russian spies and Cuban. uh agents. Um so, she needed for the US to come and.

liberate the country of liberate the. country's institutions. So, many people. you can interpret that as you might, um. but some many people say this is a call. for an invasion. And for a Nobel Peace. Prize to say this is um controversial. Last question. There's a track record of. opposition leaders who win the Nobel. Peace Prize. going on to be the leaders of their.

country. Do you think it will happen in. Maria Corina Machado's case? It's hard to know. You know, Venezuelan. people do like her. According to polls, there are not that many, but um. Maduro's support is low. It's very low. Um Maduro does doesn't have the same. support he used to have in when he took. power in 2013. Um And there are real questions over. whether he really won the election. L-. last last year's election was very odd.

because the the government did never. never provided. um evidence of what they claimed, which. was odd because the government had. always provided numbers that the the. opposition said they had been rigged. before. Uh but this time they did they. didn't bother to to to to recount the. tallies or. tell a figure or say in Caracas uh the. opposition got this and Maduro got this. They just set a number and that was it. So, the question.

on whether Maria Corina Machado is. will be the president of Venezuela. is a difficult one. I think it depends. on uh. and she knows it. It depends on Trump. It depends on whether Trump wants how. how much is Trump willing to help her. and help the Venezuelan opposition in. his what he calls uh drug um. war against drug traffickers. in which he includes the Venezuelan.

president who is accused of leading uh. cartel, the Cartel de los Soles. And she. has to survive. Yes, as well. And she. probably will have to come to Venezuela. and. question remains how will she able to do. that because she is now considered a. fugitive in Venezuela. Thanks, Noberto. Noberto Para des from BBC Mundo. And for. more on this story, you can listen to. the Global News podcast. Subscribe. wherever you get your BBC podcasts. You.

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