Nobel Peace Prize Laureate María Corina Machado revealed on Thursday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump helped her escape from Venezuela towards Norway.
Machado arrived in Oslo on Wednesday after spending over a year in hiding facing constant threats from the socialist Maduro regime. Machado has an active arrest warrant on her person under dubious “treason” charges; the regime long ago banned her from leaving her country.
The Venezuelan opposition leader was slated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday, but was unable to arrive at the ceremony on time. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, received the award on her behalf and delivered Machado’s speech in English. Hours later, Machado reunited with her family.
On Thursday morning, Machado held her first two press conferences since leaving Venezuela — first, one with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and, moments later, a second one with The Nobel Peace Prize Committee.
Answering reporters at the second press conference, Machado confirmed that the United States helped her escape from Venezuela — but stressed that she could not give any specific details.
“First of all, for the reasons you mentioned, I cannot go into details because these are people who could be in danger. Certainly, the regime would have done everything in its power to prevent me from coming,” Machado said.
“They did not know where I was, where I was hiding in Venezuela. It was difficult for them to get me. It was rude nonetheless — and yes, we did receive support from the United States government, yes,” she continued.
At another point in the press conference, Machado, answering in Spanish, said, “I provided the information I could give in response to a question about whether we had received support from the United States government so that I could travel to Oslo. The answer is yes.”
Although Machado did not disclose details on how she was able to leave Venezuela with the help of the United States, the Wall Street Journal, citing a “person close to the operation,” claimed on Thursday that Machado began her escape from Venezuela on Monday afternoon and, with the use of a wig and a disguise, “slipped through ten military checkpoints to reach a fishing boat bound for Curaçao and a private jet headed to Norway.”
The operation, the Wall Street Journal said, had been in the works “for about two months” and was carried out by a Venezuelan network that has helped other people flee the country. The group reportedly informed the U.S. military before they set out.
“We coordinated that she was going to leave by a specific area so that they would not blow up the boat,” the source reportedly said.
The Wall Street Journal further claimed that although the Trump administration was aware of the operation, “the extent of its involvement was unclear.
“Around the same time of their crossing, a pair of U.S. Navy F-18s flew into the Gulf of Venezuela and spent roughly 40 minutes flying in tight circles near the route that would lead from the coast to Curaçao, according to flight-tracking data,” the Wall Street Journal’s report read.
Machado reportedly arrived in Curaçao on Tuesday afternoon, where she was met by a “private contractor who specialized in extractions.” According to the unnamed source, Machado stayed at a hotel overnight before heading towards Norway by means of an executive jet provided by a Miami associate.
According to the Wall Street Journal, details of Machado’s escape “circulated” among American and Venezuelan attendees at a dinner organized by the Nobel dining service at Oslo’s Grand Hotel.
During the first press conference with Prime Minister Støre, a reporter, referring to the recent seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker by the United States near the coast of Venezuela, asked Machado if she would welcome a U.S. military intervention in her country. Machado answered that Venezuela has already been “invaded” by Russia, Iran, and terror groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which has in turn turned Venezuela into the “criminal hub of the Americas.”
“Look, some people talk about an invasion in Venezuela, the threat of an invasion, and I answer: Venezuela has already been invaded. We have Russian agents. We have Iranian agents. We have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas operating freely in accordance with the regime,” Machado said.
Machado called on the international community to weaken the Maduro regime’s repression by cutting its cash flows from drug and human trafficking, the oil black market, and arms trafficking.
“So, we ask the international community to cut those sources. Because, the other regimes that support Maduro and the criminal structure are very active and have turned Venezuela into the safe haven for their operations into the rest of Latin America,” Machado stressed.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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