Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado Wins 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

Maria Corina Machado has been named the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless advocacy of democratic rights in Venezuela and her steadfast efforts to promote a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.

Announcing the award on Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee described Machado as “the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela” and “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.” The committee said she fulfilled the three criteria set out in Alfred Nobel’s will, citing her role in uniting Venezuela’s fractured opposition and her firm stand against the militarisation of society.

“Ms Machado has been a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government,” the committee said. “This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree.”

Machado, who co-founded Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, has long championed free and fair elections. Over two decades ago, she became a central voice for electoral integrity and institutional reform in Venezuela.

Known for her defiant remark, “It was a choice of ballots over bullets,” Machado has consistently spoken out for judicial independence, human rights, and popular representation, both in political office and through civic organisations.

Reaffirming its decision, the Nobel Committee said the 2025 prize honours “brave women and men who have stood up to repression, who have carried the hope of freedom in prison cells, on the streets and in public squares, and who have shown by their actions that peaceful resistance can change the world.”

The committee concluded that Machado’s life and work demonstrate that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace, describing her as a symbol of hope for “a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard.”