By Desire Emmanuel
A female political activist and opposition politician in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado, has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
This is against the widespread speculation that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, would win the globally-acclaimed prize over his role in ensuring peace in the Middle East, especially between Israel and Hamas.
However, while announcing the prize on Thursday morning, the Nobel Peace Prize panel said she was awarded the prize for “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”
The committee wrote on its X handle: “The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.
Ms Machado has been a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government.
“This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree. At a time when democracy is under threat, it is more important than ever to defend this common ground,” the committee wrote.
Venezuela has evolved from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to a brutal, authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis.
Most Venezuelans live in deep poverty, even as the few at the top enrich themselves. The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country’s own citizens. Nearly eight million people have left the country. The opposition has been systematically suppressed by means of election rigging, legal prosecution and imprisonment.
Venezuela’s authoritarian regime makes political work extremely difficult. As a founder of Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, Ms Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago.
