Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and industrial engineer, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize 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,” the Nobel Committee announced.
Describing her as “a brave and committed champion of peace,” the Committee highlighted Machado’s leadership in defending democracy against growing authoritarianism in Venezuela. Machado, who studied engineering and finance and had a brief career in business, founded the Atenea Foundation in 1992, an organization dedicated to supporting street children in Caracas.
The award was announced on Friday morning, with the formal Nobel Peace Prize ceremony scheduled for December 10 in Oslo, Norway.
This year, a record 338 nominations were submitted for the prize, including 244 individuals and 94 organizations, surpassing last year’s 286 candidates. The highest number of nominees in Nobel Peace Prize history was 376 in 2016. The full list of nominees will be made public 50 years after the award, in line with Nobel Foundation rules.
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Last year, the prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese anti-nuclear weapons group, recognized for their efforts to abolish nuclear weapons. The Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that the testimonies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors helped raise global awareness and mobilize opposition to nuclear arms through personal stories, educational campaigns, and urgent advocacy.
Recall that Israel’s President Isaac Herzog had commended US President Donald Trump for his role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, describing the breakthrough as deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.
“There is no doubt that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for this,” Herzog wrote on X on Thursday, calling the agreement “a chance to mend, to heal, and to open a new horizon of hope for our region.”
The commendation followed Trump’s statement that indirect negotiations in Egypt produced the breakthrough, which under the first phase of the US-led peace plan, will see all hostages held in Gaza released and Israeli forces withdraw to an agreed line.
Speaking recently at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump highlighted his diplomatic achievements, noting that he had already helped end several conflicts since taking office earlier this year and argued that these efforts merit recognition with a Nobel Peace Prize.
