CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 as her mother could not reach Norway on time.

The Peace Prize winner's trip evoked mixed reactions in her country, where many backed her precisely because she had not left her homeland.

The appearance of Machado's daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, became both a rallying point for democracy and a critique of Venezuela's government. Those attending heard accounts of documented human rights abuses against people seen as opponents of President Nicolás Maduro.

"She wants to live in a free Venezuela, and she will never give up that goal," Sosa told the audience in Oslo before reading her mother's prepared remarks. "That is why we all know — and I know — that she will return to Venezuela very soon."

However, Machado herself arrived in Oslo early on December 11 and greeted supporters from a hotel balcony.

Neither she nor her staff explained when or how she left Venezuela or what caused the delay in her arrival.

Machado has not been seen in public since January 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in an anti-government protest in Caracas, Venezuela's capital. The following day, Maduro was sworn in to a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost the presidential election.

Machado had planned to challenge Maduro in last year's contest, but she was barred from running for office by the government. She was then forced to endorse retired diplomat Edmundo González in her place. Many voters said they backed Machado — and by extension González — because she had not gone into exile while the country came undone.

However, on December 10, Venezuelan reactions swung from support to rebuke. Some questioned her decision to depart, while others questioned why she had received the Nobel Prize.

"They say she left the country; if that's true, good for her," office worker Josefina Páez said in Caracas. "That woman has made many sacrifices to fight for democracy, and it's time she reunites with her family, with her children, and continues fighting from abroad."

Meanwhile, shopkeeper José Hurtado called Machado a "traitor" for supporting U.S. President Donald Trump's policy toward Venezuela.

"Those awards are very discredited," he said.

The ceremony was held in the backdrop of a military operation by Trump in the Caribbean that has killed Venezuelans in international waters and threatens to strike Venezuela.

González, who attended the ceremony in Oslo, sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest. His son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, is in prison for political reasons, according to human rights organizations.