Julia Carneiro

Ana Corina Sosa Machado received the prize next to a large picture of Maria Corina Machado framed by flowers.

She gave voice to her mother's speech.

Machado, the Nobel Peace Laureate, said state terrorism forced 9 million people to flee Venezuela and try to bury the will of the people.

But they did not surrender.

Machado honored political prisoners and the millions of anonymous people who risked their lives for Venezuela, saying the prize and the future belongs to them.

For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro.

Yeah.

Maria Corina Machado was about to get on a plane when the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jorgen Vatne Fridnes, managed to reach her, finally confirming that she was safe and would make it to Oslo.

On the phone call, Machado told him many people had to risk their lives for her to leave Venezuela.

There was a standing ovation at the ceremony as Fridnes handed the prize to her daughter.

He said they were honoring Machado and paying tribute to all who wait in the dark in Venezuela and suffer the violence of Nicolás Maduro's, quote, brutal regime.

For NPR News, I'm Júlia Carneiro.

Maria Corina Machado's mother has been praying the rosary every day, asking for her daughter to make it to Oslo.

Other members of Machado's family are in Oslo, too.

And the top brass of South America's right wing are coming.

Presidents Javier Millet from Argentina, Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, and Santiago Peña of Paraguay.

But Venezuela's attorney general said she would be considered a fugitive if she left Venezuela, where the regime accuses her of conspiracy and inciting terrorism.

Machado is the main challenger of Nicolás Maduro's lengthy rule in Venezuela and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for democracy.

For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro.

It's NPR News.