OSLO — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights and fighting dictatorship, receiving the award despite President Donald Trump’s repeated statements he deserved it.
Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer who lives in hiding, was blocked in 2024 by Venezuela’s courts from running for president and thus challenging President Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power since 2013.
“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.
U.S. has been strong supporter of Venezuelan opposition
The lead-up to this year’s award was dominated by Trump’s repeated public statements that he deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump is also a fierce critic of Maduro.
“I think the main takeaway is that the committee is again demonstrating its independence, that they wouldn’t be swayed by popular opinions or political leaders to award the prize,” said Halvard Leira, research director at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
“Trump will interpret this as he wants to, but this is a prize given to a cause which the United States has very much supported over the years.
“The democratic opposition of Venezuela is something that the U.S. has been eager to support. So, in that sense, it would be hard for anyone to constitute this as an insult to Trump.”
Gaza deal too late for Trump, this year
The committee took its final decision before a ceasefire and hostage deal under the first phase of Trump’s initiative to end the war in Gaza was announced on Wednesday.
Ahead of the Nobel announcement, experts on the award had also said Trump was very unlikely to win as his policies were seen as dismantling the international world order the Nobel committee cherishes.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
