Venezuela says opposition leader will become fugitive if she collects Nobel

Venezuela’s opposition leader will be considered a “fugitive” if she travels to Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize, the nation’s attorney general has said.
Tarik William Saab told news agency AFP that María Corina Machado – who has been living in hiding to avoid arrest – was accused of “acts of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, and terrorism“. The 58-year-old was named as the prestigious prize’s recipient in October, being praised for her efforts towards a “peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
She has long denounced President Nicolás Maduro’s government as “criminal” and called on Venezuelans to unite to depose it. Many nations view his rule as illegitimate.
Machado – who has long been one of the most respected voices in Venezuela’s opposition – was barred from running in last year’s presidential elections, in which Maduro won a third six-year term in office.
The elections were widely dismissed on the international stage as neither free nor fair, and sparked protests across the country. Despite her barring, Machado was able to unite Venezuela’s opposition behind her little-known surrogate on the ballot, Edmundo González.
The government-controlled National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner – even though tallies from polling stations showed that González had won by a landslide.
González later fled to Spain, fearing repression. This was followed by attempts to detain other opposition officials.