What we covered here
• Venezuelan opposition leader speaks: María Corina Machado said the US helped her get to Norway to receive her Nobel Peace Prize. It comes as Washington exerts pressure on the authoritarian government of President Nicolás Maduro.
• Vow to return: Machado, who had been in hiding in Venezuela, said that her country will soon be “democratic and free.” She also spoke of her “duty” to return to her country with her award, no matter who is in power.
• Tanker seized: Machado spoke a day after the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, ramping up a campaign that has included moving troops into the Caribbean, strikes on suspected drug boats and threats against its leader. She called US President Donald Trump’s actions “decisive” in weakening Maduro’s regime.
Live coverage on this story is over for today. Read more about Nobel laureate María Corina Machado’s remarks here and follow updates on the Trump administration’s actions on Venezuela here.
Russia's Putin holds phone call with Venezuela's Maduro to express support
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro today, in which he expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and reaffirmed his support for Maduro’s policies, according to a Kremlin readout.
The Kremlin also said that the two leaders expressed an intention to carry out various “joint projects” related to the economy, trade and energy.
CNN has reached out to the Venezuelan government for comment on the call.
More background: Russia and Venezuela have long had close ties, and the phone call comes after the United States seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela yesterday, escalating US pressure on Maduro’s regime.
Last week, US President Donald Trump confirmed he had spoken with the Venezuelan leader on the phone. “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked whether the call had taken place.
Venezuela's opposition leader says she will bring Nobel Peace Prize back to her country. Catch up here
María Corina Machado has held two news conferences in Oslo, Norway, telling journalists that it was her “duty” to receive the prize and take it back to Venezuela.
“We’re going to show the world that we do not only deserve this Nobel Prize, but that this generation will outlast what is going on,” she added.
Machado, who has been in hiding in her home country, also said that she received “support from the United States government” to travel to Norway, declining to elaborate.
“I cannot give details, because these are people that could be harmed,” Machado said of those who aided her travel.
Asked for her reaction to the US seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela yesterday, Machado said she supports global actions to cut off sources of revenue flowing to Venezuela’s oppressive government.
“They use those resources to repress and persecute our people,” she said.
Machado added that she believes US President Donald Trump’s actions have been “decisive” in weakening the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The opposition leader also said that she has received “quite a few invitations” to meetings during her trip to Norway.
US-Venezuela relations have long been rocky, but how did we get here?
Although the US and Venezuela enjoyed strong relations during the late 20th century, with US companies key investors in Venezuela’s massive oil sector, friction started to develop following the election of leftist leader Hugo Chávez in 1999.
These tensions increased as Chávez tightened his grip on power amid deepening authoritarianism and strong relations with communist Cuba, a sworn enemy of the US, and have deepened under Chávez’ chosen successor Nicolás Maduro.
Since taking over as Venezuelan president in 2013 following Chavez’ death from cancer, Maduro has overseen a further slide into dictatorship, manipulating election results and violently repressing protests as he has fought tooth and nail to stay in power, as well as deepening relationships with Washington’s geopolitical rivals of China, Russia and Iran.
During his first term in office, President Donald Trump used economic sanctions and support for Venezuela’s political opposition to exert pressure on Maduro, who nonetheless has remained in power.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has accused Maduro of flooding the US with drugs and criminals. His administration has also designated Venezuelan criminal groups Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles as foreign terrorist organizations in an apparent move to justify military action against the Venezuelan government.
At the same time, Trump envoy Richard Grenell has maintained contact with Venezuelan officials and met with Maduro several times earlier this year, and the US president himself spoke with his Venezuelan counterpart by phone in November.
Despite maintaining diplomatic contact, the US has continued to build its military presence in the Caribbean, conducting military strikes against alleged drug trafficking vessels and threatening to attack cartel infrastructure in Venezuelan territory, and Wednesday’s seizure of an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude is the latest escalation in Trump’s campaign to finally remove Maduro from power.
Who is Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro?
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has developed a knack for succeeding against the odds, with few predicting his rise to the presidency nor his continued ability to remain in power.
The son of a political activist from a traditional Venezuelan party, Maduro joined the Socialist League as a student and began working as a bus driver for the Caracas Metro.
He then became a union leader before entering the National Assembly when his political mentor Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1999.
Maduro rose through the ranks of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), serving as foreign minister and vice president during Chávez’ time in office.
He was one of a raft of potential candidates to take over the presidency as Chávez’ health declined following a cancer diagnosis, but Chávez moved to tamp down internal disputes and picked him as his successor in December 2012.
Since taking over the top job in 2013, Maduro has faced mockery of his eccentric public pronouncements and criticism of his electoral system, as well as a succession of protests, sanctions, arrest warrants, possible rebellions and international isolation.
Nonetheless, he has been able to head off crises despite mounting international criticism of his government and the fact that millions of Venezuelans have fled the country amid deepening poverty and political repression.
Excessive force, arbitrary detentions of protesters and opposition leaders, sexual violence, torture and extrajudicial executions are all part of Maduro’s toolkit for managing dissent, according to UN reports.
Now, however, Maduro appears to be facing his toughest moment yet, with President Donald Trump ratcheting up the pressure on his government and opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was named this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, attempting to drum up international support for a change in government.
Venezuela says US seizure of oil tanker is "act of international piracy"
Venezuela has said it “strongly denounces” the US seizure of an oil tanker off its Caribbean coast, describing the move as an “act of international piracy.”
A statement from the Venezuelan government said the move, along with previous comments from US President Donald Trump, made it clear that Washington’s policy toward Caracas is part of a “deliberate plan to plunder our energy resources.”
“In these circumstances, the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. It is not migration. It is not drug trafficking. It is not democracy. It is not human rights. It has always been about our natural wealth, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people,” it said.
Venezuela said it would appeal the seizure to “all existing international bodies.”
"I'm taking it one day at a time": Machado says she doesn't yet have plans to visit US or tour Europe
María Corina Machado said she doesn’t yet have plans to visit other European capitals or the United States, but the Venezuelan opposition leader said has received “quite a few invitations” during her time so far in Norway.
“Now that I’m here, I certainly want to spend a few hours with my colleagues, friends and my children,” she said, adding that she also has some doctors’ appointments and meetings to attend after being in hiding for the last 15 months.
Machado narrowly missed the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony yesterday, and instead her daughter accepted the award on her behalf.
“I’ll be back in Venezuela, I have no doubt,” Machado also said during the news conference.
Trump's actions on Venezuela have been "decisive," Machado says
María Corina Machado said she believes US President Donald Trump’s actions have been “decisive” in weakening the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
“The regime previously thought that they could do anything, anything. They felt they had absolute impunity,” Machado told a news conference in Norway. “Now, they start to understand that this is serious and the world is really watching.”
She added that the costs for Maduro staying in power needed to be raised, and the costs of leaving power lowered: “That’s where we’re moving towards right now.”
“I’m not going to speculate on strategies or measures to be carried out by foreign countries in terms of foreign policy,” she said in response to a different question about the United States’ actions and unconfirmed speculation about whether the US have given Maduro a deadline to leave power.
"These criminal groups have to be stopped," Machado says when asked about US seizure of oil tanker
Asked for her reaction to the Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, opposition leader María Corina Machado reiterated that she supports global actions to cut off sources of revenue flowing to Venezuela’s oppressive government.
“The regime is using the resources — the cash flows that come from illegal activities, including the black market of oil — not to give food for hungry children, not for teachers who earn $1 a day, not to hospitals in Venezuela that do not have medicine or water, not for security. They use those resources to repress and persecute our people,” Machado said in a news conference in Oslo.
“We know that our regime is supporting itself thanks to other authoritarian regimes. We need the support of all democracies in the world,” Machado said. “That’s why we are certainly asking the world to act.”
More background: Yesterday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the seized oil tanker had been sanctioned by the US for multiple years “due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” including Venezuela and Iran.
Machado says US "support" helped her to get out of Venezuela
María Corina Machado said she got “support” from the United States to travel to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize this week, but declined to elaborate.
“I cannot give details, because these are people that could be harmed,” Machado said of those who aided her travel. “Certainly, the regime would have done everything to prevent me from coming. They did not know where I was in hiding in Venezuela, so it was hard for them to stop me.”
Machado left Venezuela on a fishing boat, after slipping through military checkpoints wearing a wig and a disguise, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person close to the operation. She then took a private jet from Curaçao to Norway, which made a pit stop in the United States, according to the WSJ. CNN has not independently confirmed the details of Machado’s travel.
Earlier, a representative from the Nobel committee said Machado had “undergone quite some strain” to get to Oslo.
This post has been updated with additional details.
Machado says her "duty" is to take Nobel Peace Prize back to Venezuela
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado said she will be back in Venezuela very soon, speaking in Spanish during a Thursday press conference organized by the Nobel committee in Norway.
“And I know that you will also be back in Venezuela very soon, we’re going to show the world that we do not only deserve this Nobel Prize, but that this generation will outlast what is going on,” she added.
The government of Nicolás Maduro warned she would be considered a “fugitive” by authorities should she leave Venezuela.
Machado said that she has met many Venezuelans on the streets in Oslo on Thursday, including people who told her “they are preparing their bags to come back home to build a nation that will be so proud.”
NOW: Machado speaks at another news conference
María Corina Machado is holding a second news conference in Oslo, organized by the Nobel committee. It is expected that she will speak in both English and Spanish.
We’ll bring you any more updates as we get them.
Analysis: What’s at stake for Trump and Venezuela as US raises the pressure
The Trump administration’s seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela is one of the most dramatic twists yet in a military pressure campaign against leader Nicolás Maduro.
The boarding of a foreign ship is unusual and expands a US operation already highlighted by strikes against more than 20 boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that the administration claims carried drug traffickers.
While the tanker might not have been directly related to the showdown between Trump and Maduro, its interception will be seen in the context of a US naval buildup in the Caribbean, part of an apparent attempt to force Maduro out of power or to convince his subordinates to oust him.
Millions of Venezuelans would welcome Maduro’s departure after grim years under an authoritarian regime that has impoverished the country, imposed repression and forced millions of people to flee poverty and persecution.
So, the Washington controversy over Trump’s intentions in Venezuela is less about whether Maduro’s exit after ignoring his loss in a democratic election would be beneficial and more about whether the US president is acting legally. Critics fear Trump is preparing to embroil America in another pronged foreign policy misadventure as he again seeks to flex unchecked executive power.
Legal questions are most acute over the strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean that have killed 87 people. The administration insists at it is justified in using legal military force against what it brands as narco-terrorists that threaten American national security. But Venezuela is not regarded as a major fentanyl trafficking route into the US as the administration insists.
Retired US colonel explains tactics used to take over oil tanker
Retired US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton told CNN that the US forces involved in seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela yesterday were from an elite unit of the US Coast Guard.
“These are basically the Coast Guard’s version of special operations forces,” Leighton told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Asked by Collins to explain what is happening in a video of the moment the oil tanker was seized, which was posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Leighton said: “They’re fast roping down from the helicopter onto the deck.”
He went on to describe how the units immediately entered “the pilot house, where the captain of the ship, the skipper of the ship, is actually steering it.”
“They take that over first basically to control the ship,” said Leighton.
The Skipper: Here's what we know about the oil tanker seized by the US
On Wednesday, US forces seized an oil tanker named The Skipper off the coast of Venezuela.
Here’s what we know about the ship:
The Skipper, previously named the Adisa, was sanctioned by the US in 2022 for facilitating oil trades for Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
The ship was carrying Venezuelan crude and was headed to Cuba. It was ultimately destined for Asia after being brokered through Cuban sellers, a senior US official said.
On November 18, the Skipper was seen on satellite imagery docked around seven miles from the coastal Venezuelan city of Barcelona, according to a satellite image provided by Planet Labs. But at the same time, the ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder was indicating it was located around 560 miles away, off the coast of Georgetown, Guyana.
Analysts say oil tankers sometimes “spoof” their AIS location in an attempt to hide questionable or illegal activities.
The tanker was flying a Guyana flag, despite not being registered in Guyana, the country’s Maritime Administration Department said in a statement posted to Facebook.
Prior to arriving in Venezuela, the Skipper docked in Egypt, the UAE and Hong Kong, according to shipping data. In early July, it appeared to loiter less than 15 miles off Iran’s coast for several days.
Read more about the seizure here.
Venezuela's opposition leader spoke to media a day after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. Here's what she said
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed that her country would soon be “bright, democratic and free,” in her first news conference since arriving in Norway after narrowly missing the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.
Machado, who has been in hiding for a year following the disputed election of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, also committed to returning to her country, whether or not Maduro is still in power.
Asked by CNN if the Venezuelan government knows where she has been in hiding, Machado responded: “I don’t think they have known where I have been, and certainly they would have done everything to stop me from coming here.”
Asked if she would support US military intervention in Venezuela, Machado skirted the question, instead calling on the international community to help stop the violence and sources of funding that sustain the Maduro government, without directly naming the US or commenting on the Trump administration’s recent actions in the Caribbean.
Machado also said Venezuela has already been “invaded” by Russian and Iranian agents, terrorist groups, and Colombian drug cartels that operate with impunity and fund the regime.
Her remarks come as the United States is escalating pressure on Maduro’s regime, seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday.
What to watch next: The Venezuelan opposition leader concluded by saying that she would soon speak to more reporters in Spanish.
Listen to what Maduro said about the Nobel Peace Prize:
Machado tells CNN she will return to Venezuela whether or not Maduro is in power
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado vowed to go back to Venezuela to “be with my people,” whether or not the government of Nicolás Maduro is still in power.
It’s not clear exactly how she made the journey to collect the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, which Nobel organizers previously said “involved extreme danger.”
“And they [the Maduro government] will not know where I am. We have ways to do that, to take care of us,” Machado added.
Maduro’s government has warned she would be considered a “fugitive” should she leave Venezuela.
Machado tells CNN Venezuelan government likely didn't know where she was hiding
María Corina Machado said she doesn’t think the Venezuelan government knows where she has been in hiding, telling CNN’s Pau Mosquera in Oslo that “certainly they would have done everything to stop me from coming here.”
“It was quite an experience, but I think it’s worthwhile being here with you, telling the world what’s happening in Venezuela,” Machado said of her journey to the Norwegian capital.
The opposition leader has been in hiding after the Venezuelan government moved to crush dissent following last year’s disputed election, resurfacing only once in January at a protest against President Nicolás Maduro being sworn in for another term. Maduro’s government has warned she would be considered a “fugitive” should she leave Venezuela.
“When you fight for freedom, you’re fighting for humanity. And when we win – because we will – this will be an extraordinary example for those countries that today do not have freedom,” she added.
Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado was asked by CNN if the Venezuelan government knew about her whereabouts as she went from hiding in the country to visiting Oslo after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. CNN’s Pau Mosquera reports from Oslo.
Machado skirts question on whether she would support US military intervention in Venezuela
Asked if she would support US military intervention in Venezuela, María Corina Machado said only that she is asking the international community to help stop the violence, repression and sources of funding that sustain the regime of President Nicolás Maduro.
“This has turned Venezuela into the criminal hub of the Americas, and what sustained the regime is a very powerful and funded, strongly funded repression system,” Machado said, claiming that the regime obtains funding through the oil market, arms trafficking and human trafficking.
“So, we ask the international community to cut those sources, because the other regimes that support Maduro and the criminal structure are very active and have turned Venezuela into the safe haven for their operations,” she added.
In her response, Machado did not name the United States or directly express support for the Trump administration’s recent actions in Venezuela.
Machado says Venezuela will soon be a "democratic and free country"
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado said on Thursday that Venezulea will soon be a “a bright, democratic and free country.”
“I long for that day, and we will host all of you in a bright, democratic and free country – and it’s going to be soon.,” Machado said in a press conference in Oslo, speaking alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
“You cannot have democracy without freedom,” she said.
Machado, 58, missed Wednesday’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance ceremony by just hours, arriving in Oslo in the middle of the night after her daughter accepted the prize on her behalf.
