In historic moment this October, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machodo has been awarded the Nobel Prize 2025, shinning a spotlight on her years of fearless advocacy for democracy and human rights in Venezuela. Despite speculation around US President Donald Trump, the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee honoured Machodo for her peaceful resistance against autocratic regime.
This year’s Nobel Prize was announced on October 10, 2025. Tprize goes to leaders who promote peace through just actions. Maria Corina Machodo was chose “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from authoritarian rule to democracy.”
Nobel Peace Prize announcements traditionally occur during the second week of October, streamed live from Oslo, Norway.
In historic
Who is Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado?
• Machado, 58, was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 7, 1967.
• She is an industrial engineer by training, and is a daughter to a prominent businessman in Venezuela’s steel industry. Her upper-class roots have been criticised by Venezuela’s governing socialist party.
• Machado won a resounding victory in the opposition’s primary election in 2023 and her rallies attracted large crowds, but a ban from holding public office prevented her from running for president against Nicolas Maduro in an election in 2024, after which she went underground.
• The country’s electoral authority and top court say Maduro won the election, though they have never published detailed tallies.
• Machado emerged from hiding to make a brief appearance during a protest before Maduro’s inauguration in January. She was briefly arrested and then freed.
• Machado advocates for liberal economic reforms, including the privatisation of state-owned enterprises such as PDVSA, Venezuela’s oil company. She also supports the creation of welfare programs aimed at aiding the country’s poorest.
• Machado is isolated in Venezeula as nearly all of her senior advisers have been detained or forced to leave the country. Machado has accused Maduro’s administration of operating as a “criminal mafia”.
