Nobel Peace Prize Goes To….

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado

María Corina Machado, a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.” Photo 2019 by Alexcocopro (**CC BY 4.0**).

About María Corina Machado (BBC):

Venezuela’s opposition has for many years been notoriously divided and riven by infighting.

Leaders of different factions have often spent more time attacking each other’s strategies than attacking Nicolás Maduro, the man they are seeking to depose from power.

But María Corina Machado managed to unite those often bickering factions behind her ahead of last year’s presidential election.

Even after she was barred from running for the presidency, she succeeded in getting the opposition – and millions of Venezuelans – behind the little-known candidate which replaced her on the ballot, Edmundo González.

When the government-controlled National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner – even though tallies from the polling stations showed that González had won by a landslide – Machado did not give up.

She has been continuing to campaign from hiding and has refused to leave the country even though the Maduro government has repeatedly threatened her with arrest.

From the BBC minutes ago:

‘I am just one person. I certainly do not deserve this’ – Machado

The Nobel Committee has just released a video of when they informed Machado that she won the prize, a few minutes before it was announced to the world.

Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, becomes emotional and his voice breaks as he informs the Venezuelan politician of the news.

“Oh my God,” is the response. Machado says it five times, before saying: “I have no words.”

Machado thanks the committee, and says emotionally it’s the “achievement of a whole society”.

“I am just one person. I certainly do not deserve this.”

Machado says she thinks it will take a while to believe the news, and thanks them for the “honour” again, in an emotional voice.

“Oh my god… I have no words.”

Listen to the emotional moment this year’s laureate Maria Corina Machado finds out she has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Kristian Berg Harpviken, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, shared the news with her directly before it was… pic.twitter.com/OCUpNz752k
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 10, 2025

The Nobel committee called Machado a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.” The Associated Press adds:

Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since January. A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González over the publication of election results. He went into exile in Spain and was granted asylum.

More than 800 people are in prison in Venezuela for political reasons, according to the human rights advocacy group Foro Penal. Among them is González’s son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, who was detained in January.

The White House is pissed. If you really must hear from White House’s communications director, Steven Cheung, here’s the link. Donald Trump will shriek, “Oh, what a world, what a world!” like the melting Wicked Witch about the unfairness of it all soon enough. Machado won’t be getting an invitation to the White House Christmas party.