Venezuela closes its embassy in Norway after opposition leader’s Nobel Prize

Venezuela announced on Monday that it would close its embassy in Oslo, days after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a statement, the Venezuelan government did not comment on Machado’s award, saying the closure was part of a restructuring of its foreign service.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Caracas closed its embassy in Oslo without giving reasons.

The Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded her the prize on Friday in recognition of what it called “her tireless work to promote the democratic rights of the people of Venezuela,” while Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro described the 58-year-old laureate as a “satanic witch.”

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the decision as “unfortunate.”

A ministry spokeswoman said: “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wants to keep the dialogue open with Venezuela and will continue to work in this direction.”

She added that the Nobel Prize is “independent of the Norwegian government.”

Machado has been campaigning for years against Maduro, whose 12-year rule is considered illegitimate by many countries.

She has been forced to live in hiding for most of the past year.

In honoring her achievement, Nobel Prize President Jürgen Watney Friedness described Machado as “a key and unifying figure in the once deeply divided political opposition… in a brutal authoritarian state now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis.”

Machado told BBC Mundo Her award was “like an injection” for her political movement. “It infuses energy, hope and strength into the Venezuelan people because we realize that we are not alone,” she said.

Caracas also closed its embassy in Australia and opened new locations in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, describing them as “strategic partners in the fight” against “hegemonic pressures.”

Venezuela’s closure of its embassies in the two countries, close allies of the United States, comes after weeks of increasing tension between Caracas and Washington.

The US military has destroyed at least four boats it said were carrying drugs from Venezuela to the United States, killing at least 21 people on board, in what the Trump administration calls the war on drugs.

The strikes have drawn condemnation in countries including Venezuela and Colombia, with some international lawyers describing the strikes as a violation of international law.

The last time Norway suffered a diplomatic blow over the Nobel Peace Prize was with China in 2010, when the prize was awarded to political dissident Liu Xiaobo. Beijing suspended trade and other ties, and did not normalize relations with Oslo until six years later.