CARACAS (AP) — Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leaderMaría Corina Machadodemonstrated Saturday in several cities worldwide to commemorate her Nobel Peace Prize win ahead of the prestigious award ceremony next week.
Thousands of people marched through Madrid, Utrecht, Buenos Aires, Lima and other cities in support of Machado, whose organization wants to use the attention gained by the award to highlightVenezuela's democratic aspirations. The organization expected demonstrations in more than 80 cities around the world on Saturday.
The crowd in Lima carried portraits of Machado and demanded a "Free Venezuela." With the country's yellow, blue and red flag draped over their backs or emblazoned on their caps, demonstrators clutched posters that read, "The Nobel Prize is from Venezuela."
Verónica Durán, a 41-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Lima for eight years, said Machado's Nobel Peace Prize is celebrated because "it represents all Venezuelans, the fallen and the political prisoners in their fight to recover democracy."
In neighboring Colombia, a group of Venezuelans gathered in Bogotá, the capital. They donned white T-shirts and carried balloons as part of a religious ceremony in which supporters asked that the Nobel Peace Prize "be a symbol of hope" for the Venezuelan people.
Meanwhile, in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, some 500 people gathered on the steps of the law school at the country's largest university, improvising a torchlit march with their cell phones.
"We Venezuelans in the world have a smile today, because we celebrate the Nobel Prize of María Corina and of the entire Venezuelan diaspora and of all the brave people within Venezuela, who have sacrificed themselves...we have so many martyrs, heroes of the resistance," said Nancy Hoyer, a 60-year-old supporter.
The woman considered U.S. intervention in Venezuela "necessary."
The gatherings come at a critical point in the country's protracted crisis as the administration ofU.S. President Donald Trumpbuilds up amassive military deploymentin the Caribbean, threatening repeatedly to strike Venezuelan soil. Venezuela's PresidentNicolás Madurois among those who see the operation as an effort to end his hold on power, and the opposition has only added to this perception by reigniting its promise to soon govern the country.
"We are living through times where our composure, our conviction, and our organization are being tested," Machado said in a video message shared Tuesday on social media. "Times when our country needs even more dedication because now all these years of struggle, the dignity of the Venezuelan people, have been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize."
Machadowon the award Oct. 10for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman "who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness."
Machado, 58, won the opposition's primary election and intended torun against Maduroin last year's presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González, who had never run for office before, took her place.
The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. It all increased after the country's National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.
González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Meanwhile, Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in what ended up being an underwhelming protest in Caracas, Venezuela's capital. The following day, Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term.
Associated Press reporters César Barreto in Lima, Perú; Ramiro Barreiro in Montevideo, Uruguay; and Cristián Kovadloff in Buenos Aire, Argentina, contributed.
