Venezuelan Engineer and former deputy of the National Assembly, Maria Corina Machado has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2025 for working for democratic rights of her country's citizens. Notably, US President Donald Trump was pushing for the Nobel Peace Prize and hoping to bag the award.
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 Nobel 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," the Nobel Prize Committe said in X post.
Who Is Maria Corina Machado?
María Corina Machado, born 7 October 1967, is a Venezuelan industrial engineer, politician who currently serves as the opposition leader in Venezuela. She founded the vote-monitoring organisation Súmate in 2002 and later became National Coordinator of the political party Vente Venezuela, establishing herself as a prominent figure in Venezuelan opposition politics.
Machado served as an elected member of the National Assembly from 2011 to 2014 and was a key organiser of the 2014 protests against President Nicolás Maduro's government, which has subsequently banned her from leaving the country. She competed in the 2012 presidential primary but lost to Henrique Capriles, and later announced plans for another presidential bid in 2019 if interim President Juan Guaidó successfully called elections, though this did not materialise.
Her influence has been internationally recognised, with BBC listing her among its 100 Women in 2018 and Time magazine naming her one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2025.
According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, “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.”
Machado raised her voice for free and fair elections in her country more than 20 years ago. As she said, “It was a choice of ballots over bullets.” In political office and through her service to various organisations since then, Ms Machado has consistently advocated for judicial independence, human rights, and popular representation. She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
