🇻🇪🏆 — 🕊 Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

🎖 The Venezuelan opposition leader was praised for being “a key and unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that has found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government.”

💬 – Over the past year, Ms. Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats to her life, she has remained in the country — a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize the brave defenders of freedom who rise and resist,” said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

🇻🇪 The government of dictator Nicolás Maduro persecuted several opponents before last year’s presidential elections. Machado was supposed to run against Maduro, but the government disqualified her. The opposition leader supported diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia in her place. The period leading up to the election was marked by widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests, and human rights violations.

➡️ Repression of dissent only increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which includes Maduro’s supporters, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary. The election results announced by the Electoral Council sparked protests across the country, to which the government responded with force, resulting in more than 20 deaths.

❗️ Frydnes was asked whether the Venezuelan leader would be able to attend the Nobel ceremony, which will be held in December in Oslo. He stated that the committee does not yet know whether security conditions will allow her to participate in person.