The Nobel Prize that wasn’t reported in Venezuela’s traditional media

International News.- The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to opposition leader María Corina Machado, the first Venezuelan to receive it, did not find an echo in the traditional media of the South American country. The morning and midday editions of the two main private television stations in Venezuela made no mention of the ceremony, which took place at 8:00 a.m. (Venezuela time) in Oslo. The event, attended by opponents and Latin American presidents, was also not reported by the state media conglomerate, headed by the Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) channel, where images of the marches in the Norwegian capital that President Nicolás Maduro himself celebrated were broadcast. Ironically, VTV has alluded to the Nobel, in particular to the criticisms of Chavismo, whose main leaders have dismissed the award given to Machado, by pointing out that it is “stained with blood”.

The Nobel laureate is ignored by Venezuelan media

An earthquake in Colombia – which was felt on the border with Venezuela -, the signing of a decree to boost non-oil exports, the death of a white lion cub born in the city of Maracay (north) and even the election of Leonardo DiCaprio as artist of the year according to TIME magazine were among the highlights of one of the private news programs. In the other, the presentation of the Productive Economy Council was highlighted, the flight of two US F-18 fighter jets over the waters of the Gulf of Venezuela, and the planned approval of a law to separate the country from the Rome Statute and, thus, abandon the International Criminal Court. EFE noted that in several of the newspapers circulating in the country, the news was not on the front page. The same situation was repeated on the website of the country’s main private radio chain.

However, in various digital media, mostly from the opposition, Machado’s speech, read in her name by her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, was highlighted.

Government Leaders Question the Award

Machado, who has remained in hiding for eleven months, left Venezuela for Oslo, where the award ceremony that the opposition leader’s daughter received was held this Wednesday. The leader is expected to arrive in “a few hours” in the Norwegian capital, according to her daughter. The former congresswoman has maintained since July 28, 2024, that the president-elect was Edmundo González Urrutia and not Maduro, as proclaimed by the electoral body. Several government leaders have questioned the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Maduro thanked this Wednesday the demonstrations in Oslo in protest, he said, for “having tarnished” the Nobel Peace Prize. Also, Venezuela’s Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, considered this Wednesday that the Nobel Peace Prize was a “blood-stained award”. For his part, the president of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament), Jorge Rodríguez, criticized on Tuesday that the award is given “to a person who asks for Venezuela to be invaded”, while the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, affirmed on Monday that it is an “auction” that is awarded to the “highest bidder”.