Nobel Peace Prize Committee poster portraying María Corina Machado as the 2025 award winner. Photo: Norway Peace Prize Committee.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Friday, Venezuelan far-right politician María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize for her “struggle to achieve a democratic transition” in her country. The Nobel committee recognized her as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the committee, said the former opposition presidential candidate is a “key, unifying figure” in the deeply divided far-right opposition to President Nicolás Maduro’s government. Many experts blame Machado specifically for the current unprecedented division of the Venezuelan far-right opposition.
Amid increasing US military and rhetorical escalation against Venezuela, Machado said she “believes that we are very close to achieving, finally, freedom for our country and peace for the region.” Many analysts see this as a clear indication that she is relying on US military might to solve the ineffectiveness of her leadership.
She added that “even though we face the most brutal violence, our society has resisted” and insisted on struggling by peaceful means. She stated this despite her reputation as one of the most warmongering politicians in Venezuela, having publicly supported the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Machado’s Nobel “Peace” prize is bigger news outside Venezuela than inside. Here, everyone knows who she is.
You just have to read this @Mision_Verdad piece we translated over 18 months ago.
This award cannot be detached from the almost imminent US military aggression against…
— Orinoco Tribune (@OrinocoTribune) October 10, 2025
US political backing
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among a group of lawmakers, including US UN Ambassador Mike Waltz, who nominated Machado for the prize in 2024. Rubio belongs to a group of far-right, interventionist Florida lawmakers labeled in the US itself as the “Crazy Cubans.”
“In our work as policymakers who strive for democracy and human rights in the face of dictatorial regimes in the Western Hemisphere and beyond, we have rarely witnessed such courage, selflessness, and firm grasp of morality as we have in María Corina Machado,” they wrote in a nomination letter in November 2024.
Rubio and Machado posted praise of each other on social media months ago. As of noon on Friday, hours after the announcement, Rubio had not written a single word about Machado’s win on either his personal or official government X accounts. Neither had Waltz. Rick Scott did praise Machado, also stating that President Trump should be next year’s winner.
Shortly after the announcement, the White House reacted negatively. Spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a social media post that “President Trump will continue making peace deals around the world, ending wars, and saving lives.” He added that “the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”
Dedication to Trump and strategic timing
Machado rang in her victory by dedicating the award to the people of Venezuela—and to President Donald Trump, who has publicly lobbied for the prize for himself.
“We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy,” she wrote on social media. “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause.”
Many experts in Venezuela believe the prize is part of a US-orchestrated effort to bolster its smear campaign against Venezuela’s socialist revolution and gain support for a possible US military action. Venezuelan authorities have condemned such preparations since August, when the US raised the bounty for the “capture of President Maduro” to US$50 million and simultaneously deployed unprecedented military power off the country’s coast.
Overwhelming local disapproval
According to a flash survey conducted on Friday by Venezuelan pollster Dataviva, 86% of Venezuelans disagree with the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to far-right Machado. The survey asked, “How much do you agree with the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to María Corina Machado?”
Only 4% of Venezuelans were in favor. Another 10% expressed indifference.
“The vast majority believes that international recognition lacks a basis in concrete actions that promote peace,” Dataviva pointed out.
The pollster highlighted the following conclusions:
– Sustained negative opinion: Over 89% of respondents hold an unfavorable opinion of Machado and her political actions.
– Distance from the idea of peace: The results reflect that she is not associated with efforts for dialogue or consensus solutions.
– Repudiation of interventionism: Those consulted perceive proposals for foreign pressure or aggression as incompatible with peace and sovereignty.
Marcos Salgado, an analyst interviewed by La IguanaTV, explained that “Norway is a founding member of NATO, meaning a member that deliberates over who will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” He claimed it will not be possible to know for another 50 years what arguments were used to award the prize. For a significant part of the Venezuelan population, Machado is synonymous with guarimbas (violent street protests), violence, and extreme postures.
Salgado emphasized that this would be the first time the award has been given to a political outcast. “This award to María Corina Machado basically serves to revive an image whose coup-mongering and violent actions have been sufficiently condemned and documented… I dare say that this is very likely the first time the award has been given in a political rival, at a time when Venezuela is under siege and threatened,” he said.
On Machado’s criminal record, a notable piece written by Mision Verdad in 2024, translated by Orinoco Tribune, deserves a re-reading.
International reactions
After the award announcement, US Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Richard Grenell wrote on social media that the Nobel Prize “died years ago.” According to a New York Times report, Grenell, a staunch MAGA operator, was ordered to close all diplomatic communication channels with Venezuela a few days ago as US military attack preparations escalate.
Former US President Barack Obama wrote a congratulatory message for Machado. Despite having one of the worst records on extrajudicial killings in Central and West Asia, Obama was also awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.
“Congratulations to new Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado for her courageous struggle to bring democracy to Venezuela. It should inspire those engaged in similar struggles around the world…” Obama wrote. During his second term, the legal framework for US sanctions and destabilization of Venezuela was laid with the 2015 executive order declaring Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the criteria for the prize during a press conference in Tajikistan. He stated that there have been cases where laureates “have done nothing for peace.” Some analysts believe the comment was aimed at praising that President Trump was not awarded the prize, while others believe it was a reference to Machado’s unclear “peace” record.
Venezuela at UN Security Council: ‘We Believe We Are Facing Imminent US Attack’ (+Russia and China)
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his happiness at Machado’s award. “I congratulate María Corina Machado on being awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize,” he wrote in a statement.
“For decades, Ms. Machado has been a champion of democracy and a voice of unity in her country of Venezuela… At a time when democracy and the rule of law are under threat globally, today’s prize is a tribute to all those working to safeguard civil and political rights around the world, and a stirring reminder of the resilience and power of the democratic spirit,” wrote Guterres, who shares the responsibility for letting the Israeli genocide in Gaza continue.
UK Journalist Sulaiman Ahmed wrote on social media that far-right Machado asked “Israeli” President Benjamin Netanyahu for military intervention in Venezuela to help overthrow President Maduro. “She even pledged to move Venezuela’s embassy to Jerusalem. She is given this prize for inviting an apartheid state to attack her country,” he added.
Many other social media users have circulated letters signed by Machado or her political party, Vente Venezuela, stating support for Israel, praising the genocide, or signing cooperation agreements with the infamous president or his Likud party.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SF
