Hello and welcome to NewsHour.
It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service Studios in central London.
I'm Tim Franks.
Lots of politicians smile.
It's one of the things they do.
But something you notice about the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Carina Machado is that she spends a lot of time absolutely beaming.
It seems, as far as you can tell, these things genuinely to be at one with her relentless optimism.
Something you'll hear shot through an exclusive interview she gave the BBC and which we'll bring you in a moment.
But first,
the drama of her very appearance in Oslo late last night to be honoured by the Nobel Committee.
Machado had been in hiding for months.
The authoritarian government, President Nicolas Maduro, had, after all,
charged her with treason and terrorism after the opposition was widely believed to have won last year's presidential election.
After a perilous clandestine journey out of Venezuela, Machado only made it to Norway.
on Wednesday evening, meaning that the prize had to be collected not by her but by her daughter.
And when Maria Corriana Machado did then appear late at night on a hotel balcony in Oslo,
she was greeted by an ecstatic crowd.
Valiente brave their chanting as Maria Karina Machado smiles and hugs herself in appreciation.
And today that iron optimism I was talking about was on display
as she spoke alongside the Norwegian Prime Minister.