Venezuela’s María Corina Machado wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for democracy and non-violence
Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2025, on 10 October.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) October 10: Venezuela’s senior opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2025 on Friday. She dashes US President Donald Trump's hopes for the honour. Machado is also known as Venezuela's Iron Lady for her efforts to promote democratic freedoms Time Magazine in its "The 100 Most Influential People of 2025".
Machado becomes first Venezuelan to receive Nobel Peace Prize
Machado was also the first from Venezuela to win the Peace Prize. Jørgen Watne Frydnes is the chairperson of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. He called her “a unifying figure” to whom people could relate and connections across various groups had been fostered through her call for free and fair elections. Machado is honored, according to the Nobel Committee, “for her unrelenting struggle for a democratic Venezuela and non-violence for Venezuelans and for her heroic fight for her country’s recovery of freedom, democracy, human rights and national sovereignty.”
The 58-year-old Venezuelan legislator has been in hiding since the election a year ago. Most people suspect the election was rigged anyway by Nicolás Maduro, the current president in power. Machado has been in politics for almost two decades.
Known as Venezuela’s “Iron Lady” for democracy struggle
She is one of the founders of Súmate, a civic group that advocates for free elections. She and her mission persisted, despite the strong constraints and threats of the government. She thought "it was a choice of ballots over bullets" and carried on campaigning for democratic voting. Machado has been closely involved in the pro-democracy movement in Venezuela for years. She opposes Maduro's dictatorial government. She has been put in jail, placed under travel restrictions and politically harassed. She has, however, remained in Venezuela despite the risks. This is actually how she came to be known as the Iron Lady.
Barred from 2024 elections but united opposition forces
She was the leading opposition candidate for president of Venezuela in 2024 until the government barred her from running. She did not though pull out of the elections itself.
She played a key role in uniting rivalry camps behind Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. Machado helped found the centrist political party Vente Venezuela in 2013. She serves as the National Coordinator of the group. She graduated with a degree in industrial engineering. She has also been a member of the National Assembly from 2010 to 2015.
Award dashes Donald Trump’s hopes for Nobel recognition
The decision to award Machado the Nobel Peace Prize directly contradicts Trump’s months-long public relations effort. He wanted to become the fifth US president (after Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama) awarded with such a commitment.
Jorgen Watne Frydnes is the chair of the Nobel Committee. He said that the panel even observed “campaigns” and “media tension” during the long history of the honor when asked to explain why Trump did not get this year’s award.
