The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday that Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader and democratic champion, has received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Machado was honored “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
Machado was a “key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided … in a brutal authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis,” he told CNN.
The committee described Machado as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times”, noting that she has been forced to live in hiding in the past year.
“Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions.”
US President Donald Trump had made no secret of his desire to win this year’s award.
Since returning to the White House for his second term in January, the US leader has repeatedly insisted that he “deserves” the Nobel for his role in resolving numerous conflicts—a claim observers say is broadly exaggerated.
Nobel Prize experts in Oslo argued that Trump’s “America First” policies contradict the ideals of the award, as outlined in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will.
Last year, the prize was awarded to the Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The prize includes a gold medal, diploma, and public recognition.
Laszlo Krasznahorkai, widely regarded as Hungary’s most significant living novelist, received the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday. His works explore themes of postmodern dystopia and sorrow.
The 2025 Nobel season concludes on Monday with the economics prize.
