Maria Corina Machado Wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for Defending Democracy in Venezuela

On October 10, 2025, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to María 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.”
Machado led peaceful opposition to President Nicolás Maduro, uniting political groups, organizing mass protests, and supporting election monitoring efforts.
She was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election, later backing Edmundo González, who was widely believed to have won before the regime claimed victory.

Machado accepted the award via video from hiding, dedicating it to “the people of Venezuela” and to U.S. President Donald Trump, thanking him for his administration’s support.
The award includes a medal, diploma, and 11 million Swedish kronor (~$1 million USD).
Maduro’s government called the award a “political maneuver”, accusing the committee of rewarding “traitors and terrorists.”
Over 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014 due to political and economic crises.

On October 11, 2024, the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese atomic bomb survivors’ organization, for its work toward a world without nuclear weapons.
The group has led advocacy through firsthand testimonies, global campaigns, and UN engagement since its founding in 1956.
The Nobel Committee praised its role in “keeping alive the memory of the horrors of nuclear weapons.”
The award drew global attention to nuclear disarmament amid heightened tensions involving Russia and North Korea.