The Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced that the press conference for Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, scheduled for Tuesday in Oslo, has been canceled. The organization stated that it is currently not possible to predict when or how Machado will arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, which is set for Wednesday.
Initially, the press conference was set for 12:00 GMT on Tuesday but was first postponed without a new time being set. Ultimately, due to difficulties the opposition leader is facing in traveling to the Norwegian capital, the event has been canceled.
Machado herself, who is in an unknown location in Venezuela, had confirmed a few days ago to the Nobel Institute that she would travel to Oslo to receive the prize. On Tuesday, her sister, Clara Machado Parisca, said in an interview from Oslo with Colombian radio station Blu Radio that the Nobel laureate's "desire is to be here with us," and that is why they are "waiting with faith that she will arrive very soon."
"I don't know anything else," the sister added, saying she had no information on whether the opposition leader had already left Venezuela. Also in Oslo are her mother, Corina Parisca, her sister, and her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, who will be accompanied at the ceremony by her two brothers.
"We are here for her, because of her, and with all the conviction that she will achieve it, that she will be here and will receive the prize," her sister added.
