Venezuelan opposition leader and human rights advocate María Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights” and for leading efforts toward a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.
Announcing the award in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee praised the 58-year-old as “a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.” The committee said Machado represents “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.”
“The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace,” the committee said. “She is being honored 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.”
As the leader of Venezuela’s pro-democracy movement, Machado has played a key role in unifying an opposition long fractured by internal divisions. That opposition has since coalesced around the shared demand for free elections and representative government.
“This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy,” the committee noted, “our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even when we disagree.”
Venezuela, once a relatively democratic and prosperous country, has over the past decade become an authoritarian state mired in economic collapse and humanitarian crisis. The vast majority of Venezuelans now live in poverty, while a small elite maintains control through repression and fear. Nearly eight million people have fled the country, and the regime continues to crack down on dissent through election rigging, politically motivated prosecutions, and imprisonment.
“I am just part of a huge movement. I’m humbled, I’m grateful and I’m honoured.”
This morning Maria Corina Machado was announced as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Directly after the news was broken, she describes how honoured she felt to be awarded the peace prize, and… pic.twitter.com/IaY51ATZQA
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 10, 2025
In this context, Machado’s activism stands out as both courageous and persistent. More than 20 years ago, she co-founded Súmate, an organization promoting democratic development and electoral transparency. Reflecting on her motivation, she once said: “It was a choice of ballots over bullets.”
Throughout her career—in public office and through civil society work—Machado has advocated for judicial independence, human rights, and popular representation. Her work has come at great personal risk.
“I’m in shock,” Machado said in her first public remarks since the announcement, speaking from an undisclosed location. She has been in hiding since August 2024, after authorities threatened her with arrest.
Machado was barred from participating in the 2024 presidential election, which was widely condemned as neither free nor fair. Despite the ban, she galvanized massive public support in the capital, Caracas, rallying voters behind opposition candidate Edmundo González.
Her refusal to leave the country, despite threats from President Nicolás Maduro’s government, has drawn both domestic and international admiration.
This year’s Peace Prize announcement was preceded by a highly public campaign led by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who lobbied for the award with backing from countries including Pakistan, Israel, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, and Rwanda.
When asked whether such pressure influenced the selection, Nobel Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said firmly: “We base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”
According to the Nobel Committee, a total of 338 nominations were submitted for the 2025 Peace Prize — 244 individuals and 94 organizations. In keeping with Nobel Foundation rules, the names of nominees will remain confidential for 50 years.
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Huma Nisar is Associate Editor at Views News Now. She also writes opinion articles on health, society and diet.
