The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado sparked protests in Oslo, Norway, as well as diplomatic tensions and uncertainty about her attendance at the ceremony, scheduled for Thursday.
On Tuesday, some two hundred people demonstrated in front of the Nobel Institute to reject the selection of the leader, while the organization confirmed the cancellation of the press conference Machado was to give and admitted that it could not specify “when and how” she would arrive in Norway.
Under the slogans “No peace prize for warmongers” and “United States, out of Latin America,” half a dozen Norwegian organizations promoted the demonstration in front of the institute’s headquarters. Kari Anne Næss, president of the historic Norwegian Peace Association—founded in 1885—asserted that “Machado does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.”
“The prize should go to someone who supports peaceful dialogue and unites people,” she stated. The group is part of the Norwegian Peace Council, which this year declined to organize the traditional Nobel torchlight procession as a sign of protest against the laureate.
Representatives of the Socialist Left Party and the Red Party—the fourth and sixth largest parties in the Norwegian Parliament, respectively—also attended the protest. Both are allies of the Labour government and openly critical of the Nobel Committee’s decision.
The atmosphere became even more tense when the Nobel Institute announced that Machado’s press conference, scheduled for Tuesday, was first postponed and then canceled due to the inability to confirm her travel.
