Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize
ISLAMABAD: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights and her courageous struggle for a peaceful transition to democracy” in Venezuela, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced in Oslo.
The 57-year-old engineer-turned-politician became the first Venezuelan to receive the world’s most prestigious peace accolade. The committee said Machado’s long-standing commitment to civic rights, electoral transparency, and peaceful political change “keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Machado, who has faced arrest threats, intimidation, and political disqualification under President Nicolás Maduro’s government, has been a leading voice of the Venezuelan opposition for over two decades. Despite bans and persecution, she remains inside Venezuela, continuing her advocacy for free and fair elections.
She first gained national prominence in 2002 after co-founding Súmate, a civic organization promoting electoral transparency. Later elected to the National Assembly in 2010, she was expelled in 2014 for openly challenging the government. Since then, she has led the opposition party Vente Venezuela and co-founded the Soy Venezuela alliance, calling for a democratic transition.
Machado’s efforts reached a climax in 2023, when she won the opposition’s presidential primary but was barred from contesting the 2024 election after being disqualified by state authorities. Many of her aides and supporters have since been detained or forced into exile.
“This award belongs to every Venezuelan who has suffered and yet continues to believe in freedom,” Machado said in a brief statement quoted by Reuters after learning of the award. “I am deeply humbled and determined to keep fighting for a democratic Venezuela.”
The Nobel Committee noted that the decision to honour Machado “was a message of solidarity with all those who resist authoritarianism peacefully.” Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes told AP News that the prize “reflects Alfred Nobel’s vision that peace is inseparable from human rights and democracy.”
The recognition of Machado comes amid renewed international scrutiny of Venezuela’s human rights situation and ongoing economic collapse. According to Time Magazine, her award symbolizes “a rebuke of authoritarianism and a reminder that peace cannot exist without liberty.”
The Nobel Peace Prize will be formally presented at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, coinciding with the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. It remains uncertain whether Machado will be able to attend due to her security situation. Staff Report
