Oslo, October 10, 2025: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her unwavering advocacy of democratic rights and her struggle to restore democracy in Venezuela, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday.
Machado, 58, an industrial engineer and longtime critic of President Nicolás Maduro, was praised for her “courageous and persistent fight for freedom in the face of repression.” Living in hiding, she was barred by Venezuela’s courts in 2024 from contesting the presidential election against Maduro, who has ruled the country since 2013.
“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,” the committee said in its citation, highlighting her “moral strength and leadership in advancing democratic values under severe personal risk.”
The committee’s focus on Venezuela this year came amid heightened international attention, partly due to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s public campaign suggesting he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump had drawn endorsements from leaders or groups in Pakistan, Israel, Cambodia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, but experts had widely predicted he would not be selected.
Analysts noted that Trump’s foreign policy approach — often described as nationalist and unilateral — contrasts sharply with the values of international cooperation the Nobel Committee typically upholds.
The Nobel Peace Prize, valued at 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1.2 million), will be formally presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist who established the awards in his 1895 will.
