Nobel winner Machado confirms US help in escape, vows return to end ‘tyranny’ in Venezuela
Nobel laureate breaks silence on months in hiding, detailing essential US support for her clandestine exit to Oslo to receive Peace Prize
Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday that the United States helped her get to Norway from hiding in Venezuela, expressing support for US military action against her country and vowing to return home.
Machado, who vanished in January after challenging the rule of President Nicolas Maduro, emerged on a hotel balcony in Oslo to cheering supporters early Thursday after several days of confusion over her whereabouts.
“We did get support from the United States government to get here,” Machado told a press conference when asked about whether Washington had helped.
The Wall Street Journal reported that she wore a wig and a disguise on the high-risk journey, leaving her hideout in a Caracas suburb on Monday for a coastal fishing village, where she took a fishing skiff across the Caribbean Sea to Curacao.
The newspaper said the US military was informed to avoid the boat being targeted by air strikes. Once on the island, she took a private jet to Oslo early on Wednesday.
Machado thanked those who “risked their lives” to get her to Norway, but it was not immediately clear how or when she would return to Venezuela, which has said it would consider her a fugitive if she left.
“Of course, the risk of going back, perhaps it’s higher, but it’s always worthwhile. And I’ll be back in Venezuela, I have no doubt,” she added.