Milei to attend Corina Machados Nobel Peace Prize acceptance ceremony in Norway

President Javier Milei will travel to Oslo, Norway, on Monday night to attend the ceremony where Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will receive the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday. Milei confirmed his presence on Saturday, posting a flyer on his Instagram account saying he would be present after being personally invited by Machado. Other regional leaders set to be there include Presidents Santiago Peña (Paraguay) and Daniel Noboa (Ecuador). Nobel Institute head Kristian Berg Harpviken told AFP news agency that he spoke with Machado on Friday and that she confirmed she will attend the ceremony to accept the award. “Given the security situation, we cannot say more about the date or how she will arrive,” he said. Last month, Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told AFP that Machado would be considered a “fugitive” if she went to Oslo to accept the prize. Machado, leader of the center-right front Vente Venezuela, was awarded the prize in October. Despite being the main opposition leader, she was barred from taking part in the 2024 presidential election, where President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner despite international concerns about fraud and manipulation of the results. A fellow Vente Venezuela leader ran instead of Machado. Machado has been living in hiding in Venezuela since August 2024. She was last seen in public last January, when she was briefly arrested during a protest in Caracas. In a press statement announcing the prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee in charge of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize said Machado was “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.” More tension for the Argentina-Venezuela relationship Milei’s presence in the ceremony will likely stress the already tense diplomatic relationship between Argentina and Venezuela. Maduro broke diplomatic ties after the Milei administration publicly rejected the results of the 2024 elections. In the months leading up to the electoral contest, the Argentine embassy in Caracas hosted a group of opposition leaders amid pressures and security operations around the building. They were able to leave the compound last May. The relationship was further soured by the arrest of Argentine military police officer Nahuel Gallo. He was arrested one year ago in Venezuela over alleged spying accounts while trying to visit his partner and child there. There has been little to no information about his wellbeing since then. On Monday, the Argentine foreign and security ministries released a joint statement rejecting the “illegal and arbitrary” arrest and demanded his release. On Saturday, Venezuelan residents in Argentina who support Machado took part in protests across the country. The manifestation was part of a worldwide March for Peace and Freedom, which was carried out in over 20 countries to demand a “democratic transition” in Venezuela.