Venezuelan Democracy Activist María Corina Machado Wins Nobel Peace Prize 2025
Oslo : Dashing the hopes of US President Donald Trump, the Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was awarded to Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela’s main opposition leader who is in hiding, on Friday. While the development will no doubt rankle Trump, who has repeatedly argued he deserved to win the prize for resolving “eight wars”, the choice of Machado will not hurt the eccentric Republican. In recent months, Trump has opened a front against Maduro over drug trafficking operations in Venezuela and has halted all diplomatic efforts.
While making the announcement, the Nobel Committee said it was recognising Machado for her “tireless work” in promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela, and for a “struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”. The committee commended Machado as a “brave and committed champion of peace” who “keeps the flame of democracy burning during a growing darkness”.
However, longtime Nobel watchers had consistently cautioned that his chances were slim, noting the committee’s historical focus on sustained peace-building and international cooperation rather than headline-grabbing diplomacy. Experts say the committee typically rewards efforts that promote durable peace, foster international fraternity, and strengthen institutions working quietly toward those goals.
Last year’s prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have spent decades campaigning to uphold the global taboo against nuclear weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one of the annual Nobel awards handed out in Oslo, Norway. The prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry and literature have already been announced earlier this week in Stockholm, Sweden. The prize in economics will be revealed on Monday.
