Washington — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she plans to return home "as soon as possible," despite her risk of prosecution by the regime of President Nicolas Maduro. 

Machado made a daring escape from Venezuela this week to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, where she was reunited with her children for the first time in nearly two years. The opposition leader has lived in hiding in her own country, and it was the first time she's been seen in public in almost a year. 

Machado said her journey to Norway was important for Venezuelans. 

"This is a recognition to a nation that has fought tirelessly, courageously against a criminal, narcoterrorist structure, and I came to receive that prize, that award, and I'm going to bring it back home to the Venezuelan people," she said in an interview Friday with "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." 

She declined to give details about the complex operation led by an American rescue team to safely exfiltrate her from Venezuela, during which she spent hours in rough seas before boarding a flight to Norway. 

Last month, Venezuela's attorney general said Machado would be considered a "fugitive" if she left Venezuela to accept the prize. 

Brennan asked Machado whether her children, who all now live abroad, are concerned about her plan to return to Venezuela. Machado said they're as concerned as any child with relatives in Venezuela would be because Maduro's regime "has persecuted, tortured, killed, disappeared thousands of Venezuelans."

She said that "when a criminal regime is falling apart and they know their days are numbered, they turn even more aggressive, even more violent."

Watch more of Brennan's interview with Machado Sunday on "Face the Nation." The full conversation will also be posted on the "Face the Nation" YouTube channel.