Photo: Collected

OSLO, Dec 9, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A press conference scheduled on Tuesday with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader in hiding, has been "postponed" but should take place later in the day, the Nobel Institute said.

"Everything suggests that we will manage to organise a press conference today," institute spokesman Erik Aasheim told AFP.

The announcement came as questions swirled about whether Machado would be able to accept her award in person at Wednesday's prize ceremony in Oslo, at the risk of being declared a "fugitive" by Venezuelan authorities.

Machado's family is already in Oslo.

The press conference, traditionally held by the Nobel laureate on the eve of the ceremony, is expected to be the 58-year-old's first public appearance in 11 months.

She last appeared in public at a demonstration in Caracas on January 9, protesting against the inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term.

Machado has accused Maduro of stealing the July 2024 presidential election she was banned from standing in, a claim backed by much of the international community.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Machado on October 10 for her efforts to bring democracy to Venezuela, challenging the iron-fisted rule of Maduro, who has been president since 2013.