Venezuela shuts embassy in Norway for Machado's Nobel award

Venezuela announced it would close its embassy in Oslo, days after opposition leader María Corina Machado awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week.

The Venezuelan government did not comment on Machado's prize, saying that the closure was part of a restructuring of its foreign service, in a statement.

Norway's foreign ministry also confirmed that Caracas had closed its embassy in Oslo without providing a reason by Venezuelan government.

The Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded María Corina Machado the prize on Friday in recognition of what it called "her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela". The Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro referred to the 58-year-old laureate as a "demonic witch". Norwegian foreign ministry called the decision "regrettable".

María Corina Machado has for years been campaigning against Maduro, whose 12-year rule is viewed by many nations as illegitimate and she has been forced to live in hiding for much of the past year.

A Norway's foreign ministry spokeswoman said "Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue open with Venezuela and will continue to work in this direction,".

The Nobel Prize "is independent of the Norwegian government" the spokeswoman added.