Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard.
As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, this year’s peace laureate Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.
Ms Machado has been a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government. This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree. At a time when democracy is under threat, it is more important than ever to defend this common ground.
Venezuela’s authoritarian regime makes political work extremely difficult. As a founder of Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, Ms Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago. As she said: “It was a choice of ballots over bullets.” In political office and in her service to organisations since then, Ms Machado has spoken out for judicial independence, human rights and popular representation. She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence.
Maria Corina Machado – awarded the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize – has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair.
In the past year, #NobelPeacePrize laureate Maria Corina Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people.
When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist. Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended – with words, with courage and with determination.
Posted by cmaia1503
18 Comments
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Fantastic news! The idea that a man baby who is disappearing his own citizens via a secret police force deserves a fucking *peace prize* is beyond idiotic (not to mention how hilarious it is that he’s so desperate for the award because Obama has one).
The way this timeline has been going, I was genuinely scared it would go to Trump, so I am very relieved!
>She is receiving the 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.
Well deserved
Me waiting for the inevitable tantrums:
I’m sure there will be a normal reaction from that man.
Oh dear, he’s going to blow a gasket.
Donny has got to be shitting himself
Congratulations and well deserved, can’t wait for the biggest tantrum from Trump and his sycophants!
https://preview.redd.it/qb4p1gum59uf1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c331c00020aa1ef0b694bb14ea0227236ef9230c
Hold up
It feels like an American win even tho it wasn’t trump. Currently the US is waging a war on Venezuela. Machado is the opposition leader in Venezuela, she is backed by the Israeli Likud party and aligns herself with the far right in Europe.
“In 2018, Machado asked Netanyahu to intercede with the UN Security Council to bring about intervention in Venezuela. Machado has insistently stated that if she gains power she will restore diplomatic relations with Israel.”
https://venezuelanvoices.org/2025/04/02/what-does-maria-corina-machados-alliance-with-the-european-and-israeli-ultra-right-imply-for-the-venezuelan-people/
She is not a good person.
THANK GOD! This almost feels a bit pointed seeing as the US is tipping toward dictatorship under Trump
They are trolling Trump perfectly, giving it to a Venezuelan woman right now!
Quick! Someone check on Trump and make sure he isn’t crashing out.
Folks celebrating more that Donald Trump didn’t get it than the actual candidate?
Wish Francesca Albanese or Bisan or even Greta were considered for trying to stop the Palestinian genocide.
Right wing leader that presumably acts as a proxy for the US, like any right wing leader in the post-colonial history of Southern American countries? Pretty much like giving it to Donnie.
I hope yall celebrating know she’s a Zionist and aligns herself very, very right-wing, she’s very much a “traditional values” type of gal.
With that being said, Venezuela has been a shitshow for the past 25 years and there’s no end in sight so I while I don’t agree with extremism, I can see why she’s aligned herself with who she has in a desperate attempt to make *something* happen.