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Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it decided to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado 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.”
"When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.
The lead-up to this year's award was dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated public statements that he deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Many world leaders had nominated Trump for the award.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will, Reuters reported.
Machado served as a member of the National Assembly of Venezuela from 2011 to 2014.
During the 2014 Venezuelan protests, she was a leading figure organizing demonstrations against the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Machado has received international recognition for her activism. She was named one of BBC's 100 Women in 2018 and was listed among Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2025.