Nobel winner Machado suffered vertebra fracture leaving Venezuela

AFP | Oslo

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Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado suffered a vertebra fracture during her secret journey out of hiding in Venezuela to Norway last week, her spokesperson said Monday. Machado previously said she feared for her life during the perilous voyage to receive her Nobel in Oslo.

Norwegian daily Aftenposten said the injury was sustained during a high-risk sea crossing in a small fishing boat battered by high waves.

“The vertebra fracture is confirmed,” Machado’s spokeswoman Claudia Macero said.

“For the moment, no additional information will be disclosed other than what is in the (Aftenposten) article,” she said.

The newspaper reported that Machado had been examined by doctors at Oslo University Hospital in Ulleval.

After arriving in Oslo in the early hours of Thursday, the 58-year-old had on several occasions said she wanted to see a doctor, without providing any medical details. She had been due to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in the Norwegian capital on Wednesday, but was delayed and did not make it in time.

Her fracture did not stop her from climbing over a barrier to greet supporters outside her hotel shortly after her arrival, witnessed by AFP journalists.

Machado has accused President Nicolas Maduro of stealing Venezuela’s July 2024 election, from which she was banned -- a claim backed by much of the international community.

Maduro responded dubiously to reports of Machado’s injury on his television program Monday. Machado “says she has a broken vertebra. What’s broken is her brain and her soul because she’s a demon -- she hates Venezuela, she hates you,” Maduro said.

She had lived in hiding in Venezuela since August 2024 after challenging his rule. Caracas has said it would consider her a fugitive if she left the country, and she has provided few details about how she managed to leave Venezuela.