(MENAFN) Venezuela announced Monday that it would shut its embassy in Oslo, shortly after opposition figure María Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Venezuelan government did not directly address Machado’s award, stating that the embassy closure is part of a broader foreign service restructuring. Norway’s foreign ministry confirmed the embassy’s closure but gave no explanation for the move.

Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last Friday in recognition of her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela,” while President Nicolás Maduro described the 58-year-old opposition leader as a “demonic witch.”

A spokesperson from Norway’s foreign ministry called the closure “regrettable” and emphasized that, despite disagreements on certain issues, Norway seeks to maintain open dialogue with Venezuela. She added that the Nobel Prize “is independent of the Norwegian government.”

Machado has long opposed Maduro, whose 12-year tenure is widely considered illegitimate internationally. She has spent much of the past year in hiding due to her political activities.

Nobel chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes praised Machado as a “key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided... in a brutal authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis.”

Machado described the prize as “like an injection” for her movement, saying, “It infuses energy, hope, strength on the Venezuelan people because we realise that we are not alone.”

In addition to closing the Oslo embassy, Venezuela also shut its embassy in Australia while opening new missions in Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, which Caracas described as “strategic partners in the fight” against “hegemonic pressures.”

These closures in countries aligned with the US come amid growing tensions between Caracas and Washington. The US military has recently destroyed at least four vessels reportedly transporting narcotics from Venezuela, resulting in at least 21 fatalities. These strikes, framed by the Trump administration as part of a war on drugs, have drawn criticism from nations including Venezuela and Colombia, with some international legal experts questioning their legality.

Observers note parallels with a previous diplomatic dispute, when China suspended relations with Norway after the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to dissident Liu Xiaobo; normal ties were only restored six years later.

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