Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her “tireless work to promote democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and her efforts to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced.
“Maria Corina Machado stands as one of the most remarkable examples of political courage in Latin America in recent years,” said the committee’s chair during the ceremony in Oslo.
Although U.S. President Donald Trump did not win the Peace Prize, the committee’s decision to honor Machado, a politician who has praised Trump publicly and thanked him for his “fight for freedom and democracy in Venezuela”, was interpreted by observers as a symbolic acknowledgment of his support for her cause.
Before the announcement, analysts had noted that Trump’s increasingly disruptive approach to global diplomacy made a Nobel win highly unlikely.
Machado was the opposition’s presidential candidate in 2023, but her candidacy was blocked by Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Machado’s name has become synonymous with the struggle for democracy in Venezuela, where she has faced years of political persecution, intimidation, and bans imposed by the Maduro regime. Her resilience has turned her into a central figure of the Latin American opposition movement.
She was also included in TIME magazine’s 2025 list of the 100 most influential people, where U.S. Senator Marco Rubio described her as “the embodiment of resilience, persistence, and patriotism.”
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish kronor (around $1.2 million), will be awarded in Oslo on December 10, marking the 130th anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. The award is seen as both a recognition of Machado’s courage and a strong message to Venezuela’s leadership, reaffirming international support for the country’s democratic transition.
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