Venezuela shuts Oslo embassy after Machado wins Nobel Peace Prize
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Venezuela closed its embassy in Norway days after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for democracy.
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President Nicolas Maduro speaks during Indigenous Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, October 12, 2025 (AP)
Norway’s Foreign Ministry announced Monday that Venezuela has closed its embassy in Oslo, just days after Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. No official reason was provided for the sudden move.
“We have been informed by the embassy of Venezuela that it is shutting its doors and no reason has been given,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Cecilie Roang told AFP in an email. “It is regrettable. Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue open with Venezuela and will continue to work in this direction,” she added.
According to the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang, the Venezuelan embassy had stopped answering calls by Monday afternoon, and AFP later confirmed that its phone lines had been disconnected.
The closure comes three days after Machado, one of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition figures, received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Machado, 58, has long been an outspoken critic of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. Despite widespread protests, Maduro claimed victory in the contested vote.
On Sunday, Maduro referred to Machado as a “demonic witch,” echoing a phrase frequently used by the government to discredit its opponents. The remark followed a weekend of celebrations in Oslo honoring Machado’s Nobel recognition, which many saw as a symbolic rebuke to the Venezuelan government’s record on democracy and human rights.
Machado says Trump deserves 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
Machado, freshly awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, has suggested that US President Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize next year.
On Friday, the Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded Machado the prize for what it claimed were her efforts to promote democratic rights in Venezuela, a decision already seen by many observers as ideologically driven and aligned with foreign policy interests.
In an interview with The Times, Machado stated, "I do want to say that I believe he does deserve to be recognised. I mean, in only nine months, so many conflicts have been solved or prevented. Especially as we speak, the conflict in the Middle East..."
Her comments come at a time of peak tensions across the world, from West Asia to Latin America, and particularly amid Donald Trump's military threats to Venezuela. Tensions in the Caribbean Sea have spiked after the US authorized unprecedented military deployments near Venezuela.
A controversial win
In March 2024, Venezuela's Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, accused Machado of complicity in destabilizing actions against the Venezuelan state following her disqualification from the presidential election in July after being accused of corruption.
It is worth noting that the presidential elections were held in Venezuela on July 28, 2024, to choose a president for a six-year term beginning on January 10, 2025.
According to Saab, the opposition's plot was to incite an anti-state uprising by rallying "the masses using labor and student unions to incentivize a military wing."
Moreover, sharing an interview an Israeli media outlet made with Machado after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, RT highlighted how she "promised" unwavering support for "Israel" and to move the country's embassy to al-Quds, despite the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
