The Norwegian peace movement held a press conference in Oslo to denounce the Nobel Committee’s decision to award US-backed Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado, with participating speakers arguing that the 2025 prize supports war, coups, foreign intervention and genocide. The meeting was chaired by John Y. Jones of Lay Down Your Arms (LDYA) and held at Litteraturhuset (The House of Literature).
A series of protests, conferences and public events were held in Oslo on December 9 and 10, coinciding with the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Chants of ‘Machado, fascista!’ and ‘Machado, asesina!’ could be heard as demonstrators marched through Oslo on Wednesday evening.
This year, the Norwegian Peace Council, which brings together some 17 pacifist organizations and nearly 15,000 activists in Norway, decided not to organize the traditional torch procession in honor of the Nobel Prize winner.
The Council stated that it could not support Machado’ s award because, according to its members, it did not represent the fundamental values of peace, dialogue and non-violent method that that entity promotes. On October 10, upon receiving news of the award, Machado stated that she was dedicating the Nobel to Donald Trump.
Watch the full press conference here.
