From Hiding to World Stage: Maria Machado Wins Nobel Peace
The Venezuelan opposition leader was recognized for her relentless fight for democratic rights and peaceful political transition despite government restrictions.
GG News Bureau
Oslo, 10th Oct: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her persistent efforts to promote democratic rights in Venezuela and her struggle to achieve a peaceful transition to democracy, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced.
Born in Caracas on October 7, 1967, Machado, 58, is an industrial engineer by training. Coming from an upper-class family with ties to Venezuela’s steel industry, she has faced criticism from the country’s socialist government for her privileged background.
Machado rose to prominence as a political leader after winning a decisive victory in the Opposition primary election in 2023, drawing large crowds at her rallies. However, a ban preventing her from holding public office barred her from running against President Nicolas Maduro in the 2024 presidential election. Following the election, she went into hiding, re-emerging briefly to participate in a protest before Maduro’s inauguration in January, during which she was briefly arrested and later released.
Her political activism dates back to 2002, when she founded Sumate, initially a vote-monitoring group that later became a key platform for the Opposition. In 2012, after her family’s steel business was expropriated by the government of Hugo Chavez, she ran in an Opposition primary to contest Chavez, ultimately losing to Henrique Capriles.
In 2023, Machado launched a fresh presidential campaign, travelling mostly by car or on foot to smaller towns across Venezuela with minimal resources. Despite restrictions on her candidacy, her grassroots campaign garnered over 2 million votes in the primary, cementing her leadership within the Opposition. With her candidacy blocked, the party passed the torch to ally Edmundo Gonzalez, a former diplomat and academic, to contest the presidential election.
The Nobel Committee recognized Machado for her courage, persistence, and unwavering commitment to democratic principles in the face of political repression, economic crisis, and social challenges in Venezuela.
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