OSLO: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her relentless struggle to restore democracy in Venezuela and her unwavering commitment to peaceful political change.
Announcing the award in Oslo on Friday, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said Machado was being recognised for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
Machado, who has long been one of the most vocal critics of Venezuela’s authoritarian regime, was barred from contesting the 2024 presidential elections, but later backed opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, uniting opposition forces in an unprecedented show of solidarity.
Frydnes highlighted how hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilised across the political divides to safeguard the election process despite threats of harassment, arrest, and torture. He praised their courage, saying, They ensured the final tallies were documented before the regime could manipulate results. Their efforts were innovative, brave, peaceful and democratic.
The Nobel Committee chair further said that democracy remained a precondition for lasting peace,lamenting the global rise of authoritarianism. We see regimes silencing media, imprisoning critics and abusing the rule of law,he noted, warning that while more elections were held in 2024 than ever before, fewer were free and fair.
Machado, who has spent much of the past year in hiding, was described as the embodiment of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism a phrase originally used by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio when she was named among TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024.
Frydnes said, Despite serious threats against her life, she chose to remain in Venezuela, inspiring millions. She embodies hope for a different future one where citizens fundamental rights are protected and their voices are heard.
Meanwhile,US President Donald Trump, who had openly expressed hopes of winning the prize, was left empty-handed once again. In a statement earlier this week, he said failure to award him the Nobel would be a great insult to our nation. However, Nobel experts in Oslo dismissed his prospects, noting that his “America First” policies were inconsistent with the peace ideals laid out in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will.
Last year, the Peace Prize was awarded to Japan’s anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The award includes a gold medal, diploma, and a cash prize of $1.2 million. The official ceremony will take place in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. The Peace Prize remains the only Nobel awarded in Oslo; all others are announced in Stockholm