Nobel Winner Told She'll Be a Fugitive If She Accepts Prize

Venezuela's top prosecutor says opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will be declared a "fugitive" if she leaves hiding to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway next month. Attorney General Tarek William Saab told AFP that Machado faces charges of conspiracy, incitement of hatred, and terrorism—allegations critics say are politically motivated. Machado, 58, has long been a vocal critic of President Nicolás Maduro and has called his government "criminal," the BBC reports. She is currently in hiding to avoid arrest.

Machado was named the Nobel Peace Prize recipient in October, with the committee praising her push for a "peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy" in Venezuela. She was barred from running in the last presidential election, which was widely criticized internationally as fraudulent. Despite her disqualification, Machado managed to unite the opposition behind Edmundo González, who was forced into exile after the government declared Maduro the winner amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging.

The Nobel Committee described Machado as "one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times" and expressed hope she could attend the ceremony in Oslo, while acknowledging the risks she faces. Machado has been encouraging the Venezuelan military to turn on Maduro. She has expressed support for American strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, which Maduro says are part of a regime change plot, AFP reports. "We are on the threshold of a new era," Machado said in a video released Tuesday. "The long and violent abuse of power by this regime is coming to an end."