Maria Corina Machado has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for promoting the democratic rights of the people of Venezuela.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes,chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee,said: ‘She had stood up for free and fair elections for the last 20 years.’
‘She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people’. Ahead of the 2024 election,she was the opposition’s candidate but the machine blocked her candidacy.’
Machado has received threats from the government and has been forced to live in hiding,but has chosen to remain in the country which has ‘inspired millions’.
The committee said: ‘When authoritarians seize power,it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado (Picture: AFP or licensors)
Jørgen Watne Frydnes,chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee (Picture: AP)
‘She has shown the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future.
‘She won 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 chose to focus on Venezuela at this time,in a year dominated by US President Donald Trump’s repeated public statements that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
This has been amplified by this week’s approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Both Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of his plan to pause fighting and release hostages after tens of thousands of people were killed since October 7 in 2023.
And in the months leading up to the award Trump has pitched himself over and over again as a peacemaker insisting he has ended multiple wars.
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