# Venezuela announced it would close its embassy in Oslo, days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded Machado the prize in recognition of her work promoting democracy in Venezuela, while the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro called the 58-year-old laureate a demonic witch. The Norwegian foreign ministry called the decision regrettable and added the Nobel Prize is independent of the Norwegian government. Machado has for years been campaigning against Maduro, whose 12-year rule is viewed by many nations as illegitimate.
Venezuela shuts embassy in Norway following opposition leader’s Nobel prize