Caracas, Venezuela, Oct 10, 2025 /
16:07 pm
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of “her tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to the Nobel Committee.
This year’s prize is awarded to a “courageous and committed advocate for peace,” a woman who has kept “the flame of democracy burning amid growing darkness,” according to the announcement posted on the Nobel Prize website.
With a political career spanning more than 20 years, Machado is the founder and national coordinator of the Vente Venezuela political party. Since October 2023, she has been the undisputed leader of the opposition after obtaining an overwhelming majority of votes in primary elections.
Machado toured the country during the campaign for the presidential elections of July 28, 2024, and was welcomed by thousands of people at her rallies.
President Nicolás Maduro’s government disqualified her from holding public office, so the opposition coalition ended up registering Edmundo González Urrutia as a candidate to challenge Chavismo in the electoral contest.
Maduro claimed a much-disputed victory that allowed him to begin a new six-year presidential term.
Meanwhile, the opposition to Maduro, led by Machado, called for a series of protests and activities across the country to confront the alleged fraud. These protests resulted in dozens of deaths by government security agencies, hundreds of arrests — according to the organization Foro Penal — and Machado herself remaining in hiding to this day.
A unifying figure
“Ms. Machado has been a key and unifying figure in a once deeply divided political opposition, an opposition that found common ground in demanding free elections and representative government,” the Nobel Committee explained in its press release.
According to the committee, the “violent machinery” of the Venezuelan state “is directed against its own citizens,” and the opposition “has been systematically suppressed through electoral fraud, legal prosecution, and imprisonment.”
Amid this reality, Machado “has never wavered in her resistance to the militarization of Venezuelan society. She has remained steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy,” the committee stated.
“María Corina Machado has demonstrated that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope for a different future, one in which citizens’ fundamental rights are protected and their voices are heard. In that future, people will finally be free to live in peace,” it added.
‘I’m just part of a great movement’
In an interview with the Nobel Institute, Machado reacted emotionally to being awarded the prize. “I’m just part of a great movement. I feel honored, grateful, and privileged, not only for this recognition but also to be part of what’s happening in Venezuela today,” she stated.
The opposition leader also explained what she hopes to achieve with the Nobel Peace Prize, noting that her work within the country “has been a long road and at a very high cost to Venezuelan society.”
“I believe we are very close to finally achieving freedom for our country and peace for the region. I believe that although we face the most brutal violence, our society has persisted, resisted, and fought through civil and peaceful means. I believe the world will now understand how urgent it is to finally succeed, given the implications not only for Venezuela and Latin America, but also because this will have an enormous impact on the hemisphere and the world,” she stated.
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Who is María Corina Machado?
María Corina Machado Parisca is a 58-year-old political leader from Caracas. She earned her undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from the Andrés Bello Catholic University, followed by a postgraduate degree in finance from the Institute of Higher Studies in Administration (IESA, by its Spanish acronym).
She also graduated from Yale University’s Global Leaders in Public Policy Program.
She was elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly in September 2010 with the highest number and margin of votes of any representative in that electoral contest.
In 2012, she founded Vente Venezuela, a political organization in which she serves as National Coordinator.
In March 2014, the opposition leader was removed from her position as a representative after being accused of “treason.”
She has received various international recognitions and awards for her work in support of freedom and democracy in Venezuela.
The Nobel prize winner has three children and has affirmed her Catholic faith on numerous occasions, although on several issues she holds positions that are contrary to Church teaching.
For example, she has stated that she supports euthanasia in specific cases, along with the recognition of same-sex unions. On abortion, she has stated that, although she has her own religious convictions, she would never impose them on society.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Andrés Henríquez is a Venezuelan writer specializing in religion and politics with more than five years of experience in bilingual media. He is a member of the Regnum Christi Federation.
