Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace
Prize
[October 10, 2025]
By KOSTYA MANENKOV, REGINA GARCIA CANO and GEIR MOULSON
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado
won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, winning recognition as a woman “who
keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
The former opposition presidential candidate was lauded for being a
“key, unifying figure" in the once deeply divided opposition to
President Nicolás Maduro’s government, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair
of the Norwegian Nobel committee.
“In the past year, Ms. Machado has been forced to live in hiding," Watne
Frydnes said. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained
in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians
seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom
who rise and resist.”
He told the AP that the committee was able to reach Machado just before
the announcement and “it came as a surprise.”
Exiled opposition candidate celebrates
Machado's ally, Edmundo González, who lives in exile in Spain, posted a
short video of himself speaking by phone with Machado.
“I am in shock,” she said, adding, “I cannot believe it.”
González celebrated Machado’s Nobel win in a post on X, calling it a
“very well-deserved recognition for the long fight of a woman and of a
whole people for our freedom and democracy.”
Maduro's government has routinely targeted its real or perceived
opponents.
Machado, who turned 58 this week, was set to run against Maduro, but the
government disqualified her. González, who had never run for office
before, took her place. The lead-up to the election saw widespread
repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights
violations.

Crackdown on dissent
The crackdown on dissent only increased after the country’s National
Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him
the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.
The election results announced by the Electoral Council sparked protests
across the country to which the government responded with force that
ended with more than 20 people dead. They also prompted an end to
diplomatic relations between Venezuela and various foreign countries,
including Argentina.
Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since January.
A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González over the
publication of election results. He went into exile in Spain and was
granted asylum.
Before dawn in Caracas, with few vehicles out yet on the Venezuelan
capital's usually crowded streets, some people heading to work expressed
disbelief at the news of Machado's win.
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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses
supporters at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas,
Venezuela, Jan. 9, 2025, the day before his inauguration for a third
term. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

“I don’t know what can be done to improve the situation, but she
deserves it," said Sandra Martínez, 32, as she waited at a bus stop.
"She’s a great woman.”
Support for Machado and the opposition in general has decreased
since the July 2024 election — particularly since January, when
Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term and disappointment set
in.
Last year, Machado and González were awarded the European Union’s
top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize.
Machado becomes the 20th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, of the
112 individuals who have been honored.
Speculation about Trump's Nobel chances
There had been persistent speculation ahead of the announcement
about the possibility of the prize going to U.S. President Donald
Trump, fueled in part by the president himself and amplified by this
week’s approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Asked about lobbying for and by Trump, Watne Frydnes said: “I think
this committee has seen any type of campaign, media attention. We
receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people
wanting to say what for them leads to peace.
"This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all
laureates, and that room is filled with both courage and integrity.
So we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred
Nobel.”
Last year's award went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of
Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have worked for decades to
maintain a taboo around the use of nuclear weapons.
The peace prize is the only one of the annual Nobel prizes to be
awarded in Oslo, Norway.
Four of the other prizes have already been awarded in the Swedish
capital, Stockholm this week — in medicine on Monday, physics on
Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The
winner of the prize in economics will be announced on Monday.
___
Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City and Moulson from Berlin. Jorge
Rueda contributed from Caracas, Venezuela and Mike Corder from The
Hague, Netherlands.
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