Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado

THE NOBEL PEACE Prize for 2025 has been awarded to Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado for her work promoting democracy. 

The laureate was announced at 10am Irish time at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway.

Announcing the winner, chair of the Nobel Committee Joergen Watne Frydnes described Machado as “a brave and committed champion of peace” who “keeps the flame of democracy burning amidst growing darkness”. 

“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.”

In January, Machado was arrested after her convoy was intercepted by security forces as it departed an anti-government protest in Caracas.

She had only just emerged from months of hiding to appear at the protest as part of a last-ditch attempt to block President Nicolas Maduro from clinging to power.

Maduro was declared the winner of the country’s election in July last year despite allegations of fraud and without the National Electoral Council (CNE) releasing a detailed breakdown of voting results.

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Frydnes said Machado has been forced to live in hiding for the last year. 

“Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions,” he said. 

“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.”

The Nobel Peace Prize comes with a gold medal, a diploma and a prize sum of 11 million Swedish kronor (€998,672).

There had been speculation about the possibility of the prize going to Donald Trump, which was renewed following the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas this week. 

The US President made no secret of his desire for the prize. But nominations for this year’s award closed in January, at the start of his second term in the White House. 

The peace prize is the only one of the annual Nobel prizes to be awarded in Oslo.

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.

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