US Venezuela attack New regime

Norwegian experts say Machado: "Very pathetic"

One of Norway's leading Latin American experts calls it "surreal and sad" that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December, has now offered the medal to Donald Trump.

- What was celebrated as a victory by so many Venezuelans has now been exchanged for political influence. It is startling, sad and downright humiliating, says Professor Benedicte Bull to Dagbladet.

Norwegian political scientist and politician Janne Haaland Matláry calls it “absolutely incredible” that Machado has “given away the prize as if it were a commodity”.

– It is a total lack of respect for the prize on her part. And it is a pointless act, because you cannot give away a prize. It is the prize itself, the honour of receiving it. So this is very pathetic, I must say, she tells NRK.

Machado: Gave Donald Trump my Peace Prize medal

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has given Donald Trump her Peace Prize medal, she says, according to Reuters.

– I told him this: 200 years ago, General La Fayette gave Simón Bolívar a medal with George Washington's face on it. Bolívar wore the medal for the rest of his life […] It was given to him as a sign of brotherhood between the American and Venezuelan people, and their fight against tyranny, Machado tells NRK.

Machado met Donald Trump at the White House earlier on Thursday evening. According to media reports, the American president was upset that Machado received the Nobel Prize he himself so wanted at the end of last year.

She did not answer the question of whether Donald Trump received the medal.

Earlier in the evening, Machado called the meeting at the White House "great".

Nobel committee refuses to comment: "Cannot be shared"

The Nobel committee refuses to comment that María Corina Machado gave her peace prize to Donald Trump on Thursday, reports Norwegian TV2.

The channel has contacted the Norwegian committee, which responds that they are referring to their previous statement from January 9.

"A Nobel Prize can neither be revoked, shared nor transferred to others. Once the announcement has been made, the decision is final forever," they stated at the time.