The Norwegian Nobel Institute cancelled a planned press conference on Tuesday with this year’s Peace Prize laureate, Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado, ahead of Wednesday’s award ceremony in Oslo.
Machado, 58, has been subject to a decade-long travel ban imposed by the government of President Nicolas Maduro and has been in hiding for more than a year. Her whereabouts were not immediately known.
A press conference was originally scheduled in Oslo for 1pm on Tuesday, but was at first delayed to an unspecified time. The institute later said that the media event “will not take place today”.
The laureate “has herself stated in interviews how challenging the journey to Oslo, Norway will be”, the Nobel institute said in the statement.
“We therefore cannot at this point provide any further information about when and how she will arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.”
The award ceremony is due to take place on Wednesday at 1pm at Oslo City Hall in the presence of King Harald, Queen Sonja and at least four Latin American heads of state, including Argentina’s Javier Milei and Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa.