The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado, a prominent Venezuelan opposition leader, for her steadfast commitment to promoting democratic rights in Venezuela.
Machado received the prestigious honor for her relentless efforts in advocating for a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in her home country.
The Nobel Committee recognized Machado for her tireless dedication in fighting for the rights of Venezuelans, emphasizing her unyielding work to secure a just and peaceful political transition. “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 Nobel Committee stated in their announcement.
Committee Chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes described Machado as “a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness.”
He said the prize recognized her as one of Latin America’s most extraordinary examples of courage in recent times.
Machado, who has been in hiding since August 2024 due to serious threats against her life, was barred from contesting Venezuela’s presidential elections last year — polls that were widely dismissed internationally as neither free nor fair.
Despite the risks, she chose to remain in Venezuela, rallying millions of supporters behind opposition candidate Edmundo González and inspiring hope for change.
“She has brought the country’s opposition together, being steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy,” Frydnes said. “Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also tools for peace. She embodies hope for a future where citizens’ rights are protected and people are finally free to live in peace.”
The Nobel Committee noted that Machado’s movement was on course to win the 2024 election, according to polls and independent observers, but that President Nicolás Maduro’s government retained power amid widespread reports of irregularities and a crackdown on protests.
“Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace,” Frydnes said, warning that authoritarian regimes across the world are increasingly silencing critics and eroding the rule of law.
He added that Machado’s recognition serves as a reminder that “freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended — with words, with courage, and with determination.
This year, each prize will be awarded 11m Swedish kronor (£869,484; $1,156,395). That means if one person is awarded the prize they keep the full sum, but if a group of scientists is awarded the prize they share the sum between themselves.
In 2024, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of atomic bomb survivors known as hibakusha, for its decades-long campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons. Founded in 1956, the group has been instrumental in fostering what the Nobel Committee described as a “nuclear taboo,” by sending survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings across the world to share firsthand testimonies of the catastrophic human suffering caused by nuclear warfare — a message that continues to resonate in global peace and disarmament efforts.
The Nobel Peace Prize is an annual award for individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to peace.