Milei to attend Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo

President Javier Milei departed for Norway on Monday night for a short trip to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honouring Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

The visit will be short. Officials want Milei back in time for the opening of special Congress sessions needed as the administration pushes for debate on its 2026 Budget bill and labour and tax reform packages. 

According to the President’s schedule, Milei will land in the Norwegian capital on Tuesday at 1.30pm Buenos Aires time and return immediately after the ceremony. His flight home is set for Wednesday, after the Nobel ceremony, with arrival in Buenos Aires on Thursday at 9.30 am local time.

Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei will also travel, accompanied a small delegation of advisers and security staff.

Milei is due to arrive in Oslo on Tuesday. After attending the award ceremony on Wednesday, he will be received by Norway’s King Harald V, before meeting Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. 

Norway has acted as a mediator in the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela, giving the encounter political significance at a moment when Western capitals are tightening their stance on Nicolás Maduro.

Machado confirms attendance

Machado – who has been living in hiding – confirmed this weekend that she will attend the ceremony. 

“I’ve been in touch with Machado last night and she confirms she will be in Oslo for the ceremony” on December 10, the director of Norway’s Nobel Institute, Kristian Berg Harpviken, said by text message on Saturday. “On security grounds, we cannot say anything more about when and how she will come.”

Machado leads the resistance to the rule of President Nicolás Maduro. If she emerges from hiding and braves the trip, Machado has no guarantee that she will be allowed to return to Venezuela.

The 58-year-old opposition figure was awarded the Nobel “for her tireless work in favour of democratic rights for the Venezuelan people and for her struggle for a fair and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

The ceremony will take place at Oslo City Hall. Opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who met Milei at the Casa Rosada in January, is also expected to attend. A number of regional leaders, including Paraguay’s Santiago Peña, Ecuador’s Daniel Noboa and Panama’s José Raúl Mulino are also expected to attend.

Machado is expected to speak to media on Tuesday in the Norwegian capital.

Principled

Milei government officials are framing the trip as a principled stance. “Argentina is on the right side of history. In favour of peace and freedom,” said Deputy Press Secretary Javier Lanari. 

The administration sees Milei’s presence as part of a broader strategy to align Argentina with democratic movements abroad.

“Argentina, on the side of Freedom and Democracy, accompanying @MariaCorinaYA at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo,” Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno wrote on X, confirming that Argentina's President would take part in the event.

Relations with Venezuela have deteriorated sharply since Milei took office in 2023 and the President's trip to Oslo comes amid a tense international climate. The United States, a strategic partner for Argentina’s head of state, has hardened its position by closing Venezuelan airspace and warning of the possibility of military action. 

Milei has been a supporter of Machado’s attempts to pressure Maduro into stepping down. She phoned Argentina’s President two days before Venezuela’s election to thank him for his support. Milei used the call to reaffirm his backing for democratic values and freedom.
 

– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL/BLOOMBERG