Venezuelan Nobel Winner: "People Risked Their Lives For My Escape"

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has revealed the dangerous escape from her home country that allowed her to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. In an interview with the BBC, the 2023 laureate said supporters helped her evade a government travel ban. She had spent months in hiding before the risky journey to Oslo. Machado was awarded the prize for her work defending democracy and human rights. The Venezuelan government had forbidden her from leaving the country. "People risked their lives for me to be able to get here," she told the BBC, without giving specific details of the escape for security reasons. She accepted the award on behalf of what she called "all the political prisoners" in Venezuela. The government has accused her of conspiring against the state.