The Japan Times - Out of hiding, Venezuela's Machado vows to return to end 'tyranny'

Machado -- who vanished in January after challenging the rule of President Nicolas Maduro -- first emerged on a hotel balcony in the Norwegian capital to cheering supporters early Thursday after an escape from Venezuela shrouded in mystery.

At a press conference, she thanked those who "risked their lives" to get her to Oslo. It was unclear how she made her way to Norway, or how she will return after Venezuela said it would consider her a fugitive if she left the country.

Earlier, Machado told reporters outside the Norwegian parliament that she would do her "best" to go back.

"I came to receive the prize on behalf of the Venezuelan people and I will take it back to Venezuela at the correct moment," she said.

"I will not say when that is or how it's going to be," she added, but said she wanted "to end with this tyranny very soon and have a free Venezuela".

In a separate interview she told the BBC: "I know exactly the risks I'm taking."

"I'm going to be in the place where I'm most useful for our cause," she added. "Until a short time ago, the place I thought I had to be was Venezuela, the place I believe I have to be today, on behalf of our cause, is Oslo."

Machado first appeared on a balcony of the Grand Hotel in the middle of the night, waving and blowing kisses to supporters chanting "libertad" ("freedom") below.

On the ground, she climbed over metal barriers to get closer to her supporters, many of whom hugged her and presented her with rosaries.

She said she has missed much of her children's lives while hiding, including graduations and weddings.

"For over 16 months I haven't been able to hug or touch anyone," she said in the BBC interview. "Suddenly in the matter of a few hours I've been able to see the people I love the most, and touch them and cry and pray together."

The Nobel Institute said Machado did "everything in her power to come to the ceremony", undertaking a journey of "extreme danger".

- ' Political risk' -

Machado won the Peace Prize for "her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy".

She has accused Maduro of stealing Venezuela's July 2024 election, from which she was banned -- a claim backed by much of the international community.

Machado has largely been in hiding since then, last appearing publicly on January 9 in Caracas, where she protested Maduro's inauguration for his third term.

The decision to leave Venezuela and join the Oslo festivities comes at both personal and political risk.

"She risks being arrested if she returns even if the authorities have shown more restraint with her than with many others, because arresting her would have a very strong symbolic value," said Benedicte Bull, a professor specialising in Latin America at the University of Oslo.

While Machado is the " undisputed" leader of the opposition, "if she were to stay away in exile for a long time, I think that would change and she would gradually lose political influence," Bull said.

- 'State terrorism' -

In her acceptance speech read by one of her daughters Wednesday, Machado denounced kidnappings and torture under Maduro's tenure, calling them "crimes against humanity" and "state terrorism, deployed to bury the will of the people".

The United States has launched a military build-up in the Caribbean in recent weeks and deadly strikes on what Washington says are drug-smuggling boats.

Late Wednesday Trump said the United States had seized a "very large" oil tanker near Venezuela, with Caracas denouncing what it called a "blatant theft".

Maduro insists the US operations -- which Machado has backed -- are aimed at toppling his government and seizing Venezuela's oil reserves.

Y.Mori--JT