The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2025 to María Corina Machadoleader of the Venezuelan opposition, «for his tireless and non-violent struggle in favor of the democratic rights, freedom and dignity of the people of Venezuela». The decision came at a crucial moment for the South American country, which is experiencing a profound economic and political crisis. Machado, for years a symbol of resistance to Nicolás Maduro’s regime, thus becomes the first Venezuelan woman to receive the most prestigious global award for peace.
A life against fear
Born in Caracas in 1967, industrial engineer by training, María Corina Machado began her civil commitment over twenty years ago, when she founded the organization Súmatededicated to electoral transparency and the defense of free voting. Since then his political career has been marked by courage and persecution: arrests, incapacitations, defamatory campaigns. Elected to the National Assembly in 2010, she was removed from Parliament in 2014 after denouncing human rights violations during popular protests. In the following years she became the most recognized face of the opposition to Chavismo, founding the movement Twenty Venezuela and becoming a point of reference for millions of citizens. In 2023 she won the opposition presidential primaries with a landslide, but the government declared her ineligible for 15 years, preventing her from participating in the 2024 elections. Despite this, she continued to be the main voice of denunciation against repression and violations of civil rights.
The meaning of the award
The Nobel recognition represents a tribute to his perseverance and his choice not to respond to violence with violence. Machado has always maintained that the path to Venezuelan democracy passes through civil mobilization, transparency and international pressure, not through armed struggle. In the motivation, the Nobel Committee underlined that its commitment “has restored hope to a people exhausted by years of oppression, showing that moral strength can prevail over authoritarianism”. The announcement of the award was greeted with enthusiasm by the Venezuelan opposition and by numerous Western governments, who interpreted the gesture as a sign of support for the democratic cause in Latin America.
From persecution to global recognition
Throughout his career, Machado has suffered numerous acts of intimidation. She was physically attacked during public demonstrations and experienced periods of forced isolation. At the beginning of 2025, she was detained by security agents for a few hours, an episode that sparked international outrage. In recent years, his face has become synonymous with courage. In 2024 he had already received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought of the European Parliament and the Václav Havel Prize for Human Rights of the Council of Europe. With the Nobel Peace Prize, his path takes on a universal dimension.
