Venezuelan opposition leader wins Nobel Peace Prize

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Committee praised Machado, 58, and described him as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Latin America in recent times.” She has campaigned against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Moros, whose 12-year rule is considered by many to be illegitimate.

“This tremendous recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is an incentive to finish our mission: to conquer freedom,” Machado said in a statement.

Among those who missed the award was US President Donald Trump, who did not hide his desire to obtain the prestigious award, with public initiatives regarding the award. Seven wars he claims are over.

Nominations for the award closed in January. A White House official responded by saying that “the Nobel Committee has proven that it puts politics over peace.”

CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, has learned that Trump called Machado to congratulate her, saying she deserved the award.

Announcing the winner of the prize at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Friday, the committee warned that “democracy is declining” around the world.

Nobel Prize President Jürgen Watne Friedness said Machado – who had to live in hiding for most of last year – was honored “for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

He added that she was “a key and unifying figure in the previously deeply divided political opposition… in a brutal authoritarian state now suffering from a humanitarian and economic crisis.”

“Despite serious threats against her life, she remained in the country, a choice that inspired millions.”

In his response to the Nobel Committee’s announcement, Machado said: “We are on the cusp of victory, and today more than ever we depend on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic countries of the world as our main allies in achieving freedom and democracy.”

“Venezuela will be free!”

Machado earlier expressed his shock in response to the award, saying in a separate video message that it was “an achievement for an entire community.”

She added: “I’m just one person. I definitely don’t deserve this.”

Machado – who has long been one of the most respected voices in the Venezuelan opposition – was barred from running in last year’s presidential elections, in which Maduro won a third six-year term.

The elections were widely dismissed internationally as neither free nor fair, and sparked protests across the country.

Even after being banned from the ballot box, she managed to unite the notoriously divided opposition faction and succeeded in pushing millions of Venezuelans behind the little-known candidate who replaced her on the ballot, Edmundo Gonzalez.

When the government-controlled National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner – even though polling station statistics showed Gonzalez won by a landslide – Machado continued to campaign from hiding, where Maduro’s government repeatedly threatened her with arrest.

Gonzalez wrote on social media that the award was “a well-deserved recognition of the long struggle waged by a woman and an entire people for our freedom and democracy.”

Frednis criticized Venezuelan leadership during a press conference after the award was announced, saying the committee had noticed the same trends emerging around the world.

“The rule of law is abused by those in power, free media is silenced, critics are imprisoned, and societies are pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarization,” he said.

He added that he hopes Machado will be able to attend the awards ceremony in Oslo next December, but he acknowledged the seriousness of the security situation.

338 candidates have been nominated for this year’s Peace Prize, according to the Nobel Committee, although the names of the nominees will not be revealed for 50 years, according to tradition.

Trump has repeatedly said he deserves the award, declaring on one occasion that “everyone says I should get it.”

A number of world leaders supported his attempt, including… Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who publicly revealed his nomination letter during his visit to the White HouseAs well as the governments of Pakistan and Azerbaijan – although nominations closed in January, just as Trump’s second term began.

In response to a question about whether the pressure exerted by the US President and some in the international community to award Trump the award had affected the committee’s deliberations, Frednis said that there had been many campaigns and “media tension” in the “long history” of the Nobel Peace Prize.

“We base our decision solely on the work and will of Alfred Nobel,” he said.

In response to Friday’s announcement, White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung wrote in a post on Exe that “the Nobel Committee has proven that it puts politics over peace.”

“President Trump will continue to make peace, end wars, and save lives.

“He has a human heart, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with his sheer willpower,” Cheung added.

The Nobel Prize, which is divided into six categories, celebrates the work of people or organizations that have contributed “the greatest benefit to humanity.”

Frednis said Machado met “all the criteria” set by Nobel for the award and “embodies hope for the future.”