The Nobel Committee announced Friday morning that Venezuelan Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado is this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The committee chose to focus on Venezuela in a year where U.S. President Donald Trump featured heavily in speculation as to the overall winner, given his unceasing efforts to bring peace to a variety of conflicts around the world.
Trump said previously it would be an “insult” to the United States if he did not win the Nobel Peace Prize and he has been backed in his quest by a host of other nations, as Breitbart News reported.
“She is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize 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,” the committee stated in their announcement of the 2025 winner.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado leads a demonstration against the re-inauguration of authoritarian President Maduro in January, 2025. Machado had left her safe house for the first time in months to join the protests. (Jesus Vargas/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Machado was one of 338 candidates for the coveted prize, among them 244 individuals and 94 organisations.
The 58-year-old industrial engineer has been in hiding since August 2024, fearing for her safety after threats from supporters of the dictatorship led by President Nicolás Maduro.
Machado has refused to leave the country even though the Maduro government has repeatedly threatened her with arrest.
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.
Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize previously in 2020 by Swedish lawmaker Magnus Jacobson for his efforts during his first term in office to mediate peace between Kosovo and Serbia.
His work in normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was also cited as was his broader efforts in 2025.
Friday’s announcement came came less than 24-hours after Trump brokered what Israeli officials hailed as a “miraculous” deal set to free all remaining hostages and bring an end to the Gaza war.
This achievement was hailed as historic and unprecedented, with allies calling him the “President of Peace” and “the peacemaker the world needed.”
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