Nobel peace prize winner says ‘Venezuela will breathe again’ as she is awarded prize in absentia – Europe live

María Corina Machado misses ceremony but her daughter says she is ‘safe’ and due in Oslo in ‘just a few hours’Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, is now delivering his opening speech.It’s a damning verdict on Maduro’s authoritarian rule in Venezuela, as he talks about a number of figures facing repression and torture from the regime.“As we sit here in Oslo City Hall, innocent people are locked away in dark cells in Venezuela. They cannot hear the speeches given today – only the screams of prisoners being tortured.”Venezuela has evolved into a brutal, authoritarian state facing a deep humanitarian and economic crisis. Meanwhile, a small elite at the top – shielded by political power, weapons and legal impunity – enriches itself.“A quarter of the population has already fled the country – one of the world’s largest refugee crises.Those who remain live under a regime that systematically silences, harasses and attacks the opposition.”“Venezuela is not alone in this...