Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize this Friday.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that Machado won the prize "for her tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy". Machado, 57 years old, has become the main voice of resistance to the government of Nicolás Maduro, who assumed power in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chávez. The committee highlighted its role during the presidential election of July 2024. In this electoral process, the opposition claimed to have won at the polls, but the results were unrecognized by the ruling party, which never presented evidence of its supposed victory. "Democracy is a prerequisite for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where it is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes challenge norms and resort to violence," the Norwegian Committee noted. "María Corina Machado has dedicated years to working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The iron control of power by the Venezuelan regime and its repression against the population are not unique phenomena in the world," the institution stressed. And he added: "We are seeing the same trends worldwide: the rule of law is abused by those in power, freedom of the press is silenced, critics are imprisoned, and societies are pushed towards authoritarian regimes and militarization. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair." This is the second Nobel Prize awarded to a Venezuelan figure, after Baruj Benacerraf received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1980.