OSLO: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote democratic rights and her unwavering struggle to restore democracy in Venezuela, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday.
Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer currently living in hiding, was barred by Venezuela’s courts in 2024 from contesting the presidential election against President Nicolás Maduro, who has ruled the country since 2013.
“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise the courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,” the committee said in its statement.
This year’s Nobel discussions had drawn attention due to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he deserved the prize. However, the committee reached its decision before the announcement of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, which marked the first phase of Trump’s peace initiative in the region.
Experts had earlier noted that Trump was unlikely to be chosen, as many of his policies were viewed as undermining the international order the Nobel Committee seeks to uphold.
The Nobel Peace Prize, valued at 11 million Swedish crowns (about USD 1.2 million), will be formally presented in Oslo on December 10, marking the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death — the Swedish industrialist who established the awards in his 1895 will.
