A planned news conference Tuesday by Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado was canceled after a several-hour delay, a day before the award ceremony in Oslo.
Machado, who last appeared in public 11 months ago, had been due to hold a traditional news conference by the laureate the day before the formal award ceremony. But the lunchtime event was delayed without explanation, until the Norwegian Nobel Institute said three hours after the scheduled time that “it will not take place today.”
“María Corina Machado has herself stated in interviews how challenging the journey to Oslo, Norway will be,” the institute said in an email. "We therefore cannot at this point provide any further information about when and how she will arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony."
The institute did not specify whether the news conference would take place at a later point.
The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
