Maria Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize win came after a swirl of buzz around US President Donald Trump, who had been actively lobbying for the award.
Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday, capping weeks of speculation and global interest in one of the world’s most prestigious and unpredictable honors.
The former opposition presidential candidate in Venezuela was lauded for being 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,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 to Maria Corina Machado. 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 said.
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The choice comes after a swirl of buzz around US President Donald Trump, who had been actively lobbying for the award.
Trump’s push intensified this week after international approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, fueling speculation that the committee might recognize his foreign policy interventions.
However, longtime Nobel watchers had consistently cautioned that his chances were slim, noting the committee’s historical focus on sustained peace-building and international cooperation rather than headline-grabbing diplomacy.
Experts say the committee typically rewards efforts that promote durable peace, foster international fraternity, and strengthen institutions working quietly toward those goals.
Last year’s prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have spent decades campaigning to uphold the global taboo against nuclear weapons.
The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one of the annual Nobel awards handed out in Oslo, Norway. The prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry and literature have already been announced earlier this week in Stockholm, Sweden. The prize in economics will be revealed on Monday.
