Venezuelan opposition leader and democracy activist Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday.
Machado received the honour “for 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,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the committee in Oslo.
The committee described her as “a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided in a brutal authoritarian state now facing a humanitarian and economic crisis.” Machado has been forced into hiding in recent months but chose to remain in Venezuela, inspiring millions despite threats to her life.
The announcement comes amid speculation over US President Donald Trump, who had openly expressed his hopes of winning the prize, citing his role in conflict resolution. Nobel experts had dismissed his chances, noting that his “America First” policies conflict with the Peace Prize’s ideals as outlined in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will. Last year, the prize was awarded to the Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, representing survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.
The Nobel Peace Prize includes a gold medal, a diploma, and $1.2 million in prize money. The award will be formally presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo; other categories are presented in Stockholm. On Thursday, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai, celebrated for his explorations of postmodern dystopia and melancholy. The 2025 Nobel season will conclude on Monday with the announcement of the economics prize.
