The Norwegian Academy highlights her struggle “to achieve a just and peaceful transition”
14ymedio, Madrid, October 10, 2025 — The Norwegian Academy has awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado “for her tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian committee, began the announcement at 11:00 am with these words: “The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to a courageous and committed peace advocate: a woman who keeps alive the flame of democracy in the midst of a growing darkness.”
Next, Watne, a human rights lawyer by profession, gave the name of the Venezuelan opposition leader and justified the decision, which was taken by considering Machado, 58, “a figure of unity in a political opposition that was previously divided.”
“As leader of the democratic movement in Venezuela, María Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Latin America in recent times,” the committee said.
“As leader of the democratic movement in Venezuela, María Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Latin America in recent times,”
According to the document, read during the brief but ceremonial act, the Venezuelan opposition found a point of consensus in the demand for free elections. “This is precisely the essence of democracy: our shared will to uphold the principles of popular will, even if we disagree.”
The committee has described briefly but harshly the situation in Venezuela, which it has referred to as a country that was “relatively democratic and prosperous,” which has evolved into “a brutal and authoritarian state now suffering from a humanitarian and economic crisis. The majority of Venezuelans live in extreme poverty, while a few at the top get rich. The state’s violent machinery is directed against its own citizens. Almost eight million people have left the country. The opposition has been systematically repressed through electoral fraud, legal persecution and imprisonment.”
The committee highlighted the political work that Machado has done, first as the founder of Súmate, defending judicial independence, human rights and popular representation. “She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people.” Despite this, she found her candidacy blocked, and it had to be taken over by Edmundo González Urrutia.
The chairman of the committee recalled how the election campaign for the presidential elections of July 2024 took place, in the midst of risks, arrests and torture, with the support of hundreds of thousands of volunteers who helped document the election result “before the regime could destroy the ballots and lie about the result.”
The text unequivocally supports the electoral victory of the Venezuelan opposition and recalls that there was support from international observers. “However, the regime refused to accept the election result and clung to power,” it adds.
The Norwegian Committee, through the Venezuelan opposition, has defended democracy, which it considers “in retreat” worldwide. “Democracy is a prerequisite for lasting peace. Yet we live in a world where democracy is in decline, where more and more authoritarian regimes defy the rules and resort to violence. The iron control of power by the Venezuelan regime and its repression against the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends worldwide,” it states. Although 2024 was an eminently electoral year around the world, the committee has highlighted that these processes are becoming less and less free and fair.
“Last year, Mrs. Machado was forced to go into hiding. Despite serious threats to her life, she has remained in the country, a decision that has inspired millions of people. When authoritarians take power, it is crucial to recognize the brave defenders of freedom who rise up and resist. Democracy depends on those who refuse to keep quiet, who dare to step forward,” said Watne.
According to the committee, María Corina Machado meets the three criteria set out in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Nobel Peace Prize: uniting the opposition, not wavering in her resistance and supporting the transition to democracy.
With this decision, Machado becomes the seventh Latin American to receive the award. She is preceded by the Argentines Carlos Saavedra Lamas and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, the Mexican Alfonso García Robles, the Costa Rican Oscar Arias, the Guatemalan Rigoberta Menchú and the Colombian Juan Manuel Santos.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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