The delivery of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado pressure increases on the Government of Nicolás Maduro. “Venezuela will breathe again,” said Machado’s daughter during the ceremony held this Wednesday in Oslo, Norway.

The award to Machado coincides with a redoubled offensive of the Trump Governance against Venezuela: new sanctions against the country, the largest US naval deployment since the second Gulf War – with more than 15,000 soldiers in the Caribbean Sea -, an attempt to block Venezuelan airspace and regular attacks against alleged drug boats in the vicinity of the Venezuelan coast.

The event has been marked by the physical absence of Machado, who confirmed late on Tuesday that he would arrive in Oslo but not in time to receive the award. In her place, her daughter, Anna Corina Sosa, has taken the stand, who has read a speech on behalf of her mother ensuring that “It has been almost three decades of fighting against a brutal dictatorship” where “we have tried everything.”The veteran leader of the hardest line of the Venezuelan right was overwhelmingly elected in the opposition primaries as a unitary candidate against Maduro in the July elections. But a disqualification for “irregularities in the management of public funds” meant that the candidacy ended up falling to former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia.

The elections led to a war of figures and stories where both Maduro – supported by data from the ruling National Electoral Center (CNE) – and González Urrutia – publishing 80% of electoral records that he claims to have in his possession – declared themselves winners.

Since the beginning of the year, especially after the departure of Edmundo gonzález Urrutia to Spain, maría Corina Machado confirmed herself as leader of the opposition and multiplied her appearances, but always through social networks, with an aseptic white background and without revealing its location.

Machado, Trump, and Venezuela’s Opposition

The Nobel Prize for María Corina Machado and Donald Trump’s aggressive strategy against Venezuela has revived the aspirations of an opposition that was disoriented and divided after the failed attempt to swear in Manuel González Urrutia as president of the country.

Machado’s departure from the country opens the question about what the Nobel Prize winner will do in the medium term. Will she return to venezuela, where she could be detained and where meaningful opposition protests are currently lacking? Or will she remain abroad, adding to the growing list of Venezuelan politicians in exile?

In a recent interview, President Donald Trump reiterated his commitment to addressing the situation in Venezuela, signaling a potential shift in U.S.policy toward the country.