OSLO — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against dictatorship in Venezuela an honor she partly dedicated to former U.S. President Donald Trump, whose support she described as “decisive” for her movement.
Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer who has spent recent years in hiding, was barred by Venezuela’s courts from running in the 2024 presidential election, preventing her from challenging long-time ruler Nicolás Maduro.
Reacting to the announcement in an emotional phone call shared by the Nobel Committee, Machado could hardly contain her disbelief.
“Oh my God … I have no words,” she said. “I thank you so much, but please understand this is not about me. It’s the victory of an entire society that refuses to give up.”
Later, in a post on X, Machado dedicated the award to “the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause.”
Trump has been one of Maduro’s fiercest international critics, and Washington continues to refuse recognition of Maduro’s government.
However, the award sparked political ripples in Washington. The White House criticized the timing of the decision, noting it came just days after Trump announced progress on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” said White House spokesperson Steven Cheung in a statement on X. “The Nobel Committee has once again shown it values politics over peace.”
A Symbol of Defiance in a Broken Nation
Maduro, who began his third term in January following a disputed election, has overseen years of economic collapse, hyperinflation, and mass emigration. Despite mounting international pressure and U.S. sanctions including a bounty for his capture he has held on to power through Venezuela’s security forces and a fractured opposition.
“The Nobel Peace Prize honors those who stand up when freedom is under attack,” said Joergen Watne Frydnes, head of the Nobel Committee. “When authoritarians seize power, it’s crucial to recognize the defenders of liberty who rise and resist.”
Machado’s nomination was submitted last year by a group of U.S. lawmakers, including Marco Rubio, who has since become Trump’s Secretary of State. She is the first Venezuelan and the sixth Latin American to receive the Peace Prize.
Uncertain Future — and a Dangerous Homecoming
It remains unclear whether Machado will be able to attend the December 10 ceremony in Oslo, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. If barred, she would join past laureates prevented from collecting their awards, such as Andrei Sakharov (1975), Lech Wałęsa (1983), and Aung San Suu Kyi (1991).
Her three adult children live abroad for safety, while Machado continues her activism from undisclosed locations inside Venezuela. The United Nations Human Rights Office praised the decision, calling it a recognition of Venezuelans’ desire for “free and fair elections.”
Trump’s Shadow on the Prize
The U.S. has long backed Venezuela’s democratic opposition, but this year’s Nobel decision came amid heightened media attention to Trump’s foreign policy ambitions. The former president has repeatedly claimed he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize himself particularly for his mediation in the Middle East.
“The democratic opposition in Venezuela has always had strong U.S. support,” said Halvard Leira, research director at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. “In that sense, this award doesn’t contradict Trump’s narrative if anything, it reinforces it.”
In recent months, the U.S. military has launched operations against drug cartels in Venezuelan waters. Trump, citing a “non-international armed conflict,” authorized targeted strikes against suspected traffickers an effort Machado later praised as “an operation to save lives in both nations.”
Too Late for Gaza, Too Soon for Trump
Frydnes declined to comment on whether Trump or his Middle East initiatives could be considered for future prizes.
“It’s not our role to speculate or guide governments,” he told reporters. “Our task is simply to award those who advance peace. We’ll see what next year brings.”
The Nobel Committee confirmed that the 2025 Peace Prize decision which technically recognizes achievements made in 2024 was finalized before Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan was announced.
Valued at 11 million Swedish crowns (roughly $1.2 million), this year’s award follows prizes in literature, chemistry, physics, and medicine. The 2024 Peace Prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization representing atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
