The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Venezuelan Maria Corina Machado, told a news conference in Oslo on Thursday that she believed "Venezuela will be free."

Machado was speaking alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

"We will turn a country into a beacon of hope, an opportunity of democracy," she said.

"And we will welcome not only the Venezuelans that have been forced to flee, but citizens from all over the world that will find a refuge as Venezuela used to be decades ago."

It comes after she appeared in public for the first time in 11 months Thursday after a daring escape from her homeland when she emerged from a hotel balcony in Norway’s capital and waved to an emotional crowd of supporters cheering for the new Nobel laureate.

Her appearance in Oslo came hours after her daughter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize award on her behalf.

Machado was recognized after mounting the most serious peaceful challenge in years to the authoritarian government of Venezuelan President President Nicolás Maduro.

Machado had been in hiding since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.