The leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, deputy Jørgen Watne Frydnes, said at the award ceremony to Venezuelan opponent María Corina Machado that “Venezuela has transformed into an authoritarian and brutal state”.
The leader of the Venezuelan opposition will not be at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, but her daughter Ana Corina Sosa will read the speech she prepared for the occasion.
On October 10, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that this year’s prize went to María Corina Machado “for his tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for his fight to achieve a fair and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
The leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, deputy Jørgen Watne Frydnes, began the ceremony by speaking about several Venezuelans, political prisoners, who are missing or detained by the Nicolás Maduro regime. “Someone who still believes in telling the truth can violently disappear in a system built specifically to eradicate this belief”he stated.
“As we sit here in Oslo City Hall, innocent people are trapped in Venezuela. They cannot hear the speeches, only the screams of the people who are being tortured,” he added.
“Venezuela has transformed into an authoritarian and brutal state, facing a profound humanitarian and economic crisis. Meanwhile, a small elite at the top, protected by political power, weapons and legal impunity, grows rich”he reported.
“When democracy loses, the result is more conflict, more war”he warned, saying that the situation in Venezuela is not unique in the world and that there are more and more authoritarian leaders. “Authoritarian regimes learn from each other,” he stated, saying that behind Maduro are Cuba, Russia, China, Iran, Hezbollah. “They make the regime more robust.”
The speech is interrupted to applaud the elected president of Venezuela, Edmundo González. A second applause after the indication that although María Corina Machado did not arrive in time for the ceremony, she is safe and will be in Oslo later.
“People living under dictatorships often have to choose between the difficult and the impossible. Yet many of us, from a safe distance, expect Venezuela’s democratic leaders to pursue their goals with a moral purity that their adversaries never demonstrate. This is unrealistic. It is unfair. And it demonstrates historical ignorance,” reiterated the leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Award winner did not arrive in time
Hours before the ceremony, the Norwegian Nobel Committee confirmed that María Corina Machado would not be at the ceremony, despite having done “everything in her power to be present”. In a small note, he spoke of a “travel in a situation of extreme danger”, explaining that “although she was unable to make it to the ceremony and today’s events, we are deeply happy to confirm that she is well and that she will be with us in Oslo”.
And he later released the phone call in which she confirmed that she could not be present. “First of all, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, I want to thank the Norwegian Nobel committee once again for this immense recognition of our people’s struggle for democracy and freedom. We are very excited and honored, so I am very sorry to inform you that I will not be able to arrive in time for the ceremony, but I will be in Oslo and on my way to Oslo right now.”