Venezuelan Activist María Corina Machado Wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize as Trump Misses Out

Venezuelan democracy activist and opposition leader María Corina Machado has been named the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, honoured for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and her “courageous struggle to achieve a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

Announcing the award in Oslo on Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee hailed Machado as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.” Committee chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes said the prize recognised her as a “symbol of hope” for millions of Venezuelans enduring authoritarian rule.

“This award goes to a woman who has kept the flame of democracy alive amid growing darkness,” Frydnes said. “María Corina Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also tools for peace. She has united Venezuela’s opposition around the principles of nonviolence and freedom.”

The Nobel Committee said it was aware of the serious risks facing the 56-year-old activist, who has been in hiding since August 2024, after a disputed presidential election that international observers widely dismissed as fraudulent.

In Hiding but Not Silenced

Machado, a longtime critic of President Nicolás Maduro, was barred from contesting last year’s election and saw her replacement, Edmundo González, also disqualified by the authorities. Despite these obstacles, her movement attracted massive crowds across Venezuela, sparking what many believed to be a decisive opposition victory before the results were overturned in Maduro’s favour.

In a letter published in The Wall Street Journal titled “I Can Prove Maduro Got Trounced,” Machado wrote from hiding:  “I am writing this fearing for my life and my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen. The dictatorship may think it silenced us, but the people of Venezuela are like a tidal wave.”

She briefly appeared at a protest in January 2025 before being detained and later released. Since then, she has remained underground while continuing to coordinate pro-democracy efforts through intermediaries.

The Nobel Committee’s chairman said the decision to honour her, despite her being in hiding, was deliberate.

“We have considered her safety carefully,” Frydnes noted. “But this award, we believe, will strengthen her cause rather than endanger it.”

Trump Snubbed After Public Campaign

The announcement also signalled a blow to U.S. President Donald Trump, who had led an open campaign for the Peace Prize. Trump, now serving his second term, had publicly argued that his foreign policy achievements warranted the honour, with several of his allies lobbying the Nobel Committee.

When asked about the pressure, Frydnes dismissed any suggestion of political influence.

“The committee bases its decision solely on the will of Alfred Nobel,” he said. “Throughout history, we’ve seen campaigns and letters from all over the world. We remain independent.”

The Nobel Committee, he added, considered “only the merits of the laureate’s contribution to peace.”

Democracy and Peace Intertwined

In explaining its choice, the committee said Venezuela’s opposition movement, under Machado’s leadership, had demonstrated that “democracy is a precondition for lasting peace.”

Frydnes noted that Venezuela’s 2024 election was marred by “irregularities and intimidation,” and that the government’s refusal to accept the people’s verdict exemplified a global trend of “democracy in retreat.”

“Across the world, authoritarian regimes are tightening control, silencing media, imprisoning critics and undermining the rule of law,” he said. “María Corina Machado’s courage stands in defiance of that darkness.”

A Symbol of Resistance

Once described as “the iron lady of Caracas,” Machado has been a fierce advocate of democratic values for over two decades. She founded Súmate, an NGO dedicated to promoting free and fair elections, and later served in the National Assembly, where she emerged as one of Maduro’s most outspoken critics.

Today, she remains a unifying symbol for Venezuela’s fragmented opposition, inspiring hope for a democratic future even while forced into hiding.

As Frydnes concluded in Oslo: “In recognising María Corina Machado, we honour all those who continue to fight for democracy with nothing but their voice, their courage, and their faith in a freer tomorrow.”

Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize will be formally presented in Oslo, Norway, in December 2025. It remains uncertain whether she will be able to attend due to ongoing security concerns.