There was a lot of discussion and push around the Nobel Peace Prize this year. US President Donald Trump made desperate efforts to win the prestigious award. But when the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was announced, Venezuelan opposition activist María Corina Machado trumped the US President. She has been chosen for the award for her work promoting democratic rights and just transitions from dictatorship.
Nobel prizes are announced in October every year, and presented at award ceremonies on December 10 to mark the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel. Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, and philanthropist – best known for inventing dynamite – died in 1896, and his will set up the Nobel Prizes to honour outstanding contributions to humanity in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The sixth category of prize, in Economic Sciences, was added in 1969. To commemorate Alfred Nobel’s memory, the Nobel Foundation decided that the prizes should be awarded annually on the date of his death. The prizes were first awarded in 1901.
So far, four US Presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in international diplomacy, peace-making, or disarmament efforts. Theodore Roosevelt (1906) got it for mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) and for his efforts in promoting arbitration treaties. He was the first American president (and first US citizen) to win a Nobel Prize. Roosevelt donated his prize money to establish an industrial peace foundation. Woodrow Wilson (1919) got the prize for founding the League of Nations, the forerunner to today’s United Nations. In 2002, the policies of George W. Bush administration showed that Nobel decisions can carry political weight. In a rebuke of these policies, the Nobel Committee selected Jimmy Carter (2002) for the prize. Barack Obama (2009) was the last US President to get the Peace Prize. Obama got the prize for his decades of peacekeeping and humanitarian work, especially through the Carter Center, promoting democracy, human rights, and mediation in international conflicts, but largely for his vision and rhetoric on nuclear disarmament and global engagement. This led to criticism. Critics said Obama’s prize was premature, as major peace achievements had not yet materialized.
The current US President, Donald Trump, has repeatedly pushed for the recognition by claiming credit for resolving or mediating multiple international conflicts. He mentions the Abraham Accords (normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab/Muslim-majority states), a treaty between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the easing of tensions between India and Pakistan, and efforts in conflicts involving Serbia and Kosovo, Egypt and Ethiopia, Russia-Ukraine, and Israel-Iran. The Trump administration has pushed narratives that he is a “Peace President,” emphasising “one peace deal per month” (average) and declaring that many of the conflicts around the world were being resolved or eased through his diplomacy. Along with the push, Trump has also publicly expressed frustration that he will likely not receive the prize. He said on social media (Truth Social) that “they won’t give me a Nobel Peace Prize because they only give it to liberals,” and “no matter what I do … I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize.”
His frustration manifested when the new laureate was announced earlier this month.
Norwegian and other observers have expressed that lobbying, rhetoric, and self-promotion do not necessarily sway the Nobel Committee, which evaluates nominations independent of public pressure. Before the prize was announced, Trump’s claims were called overstated, particularly with respect to whether conflicts are truly resolved or simply paused or mediated temporarily. The Nobel Committee tends to reward sustained mediation, reconciliation, prevention of conflict, or work toward root causes.
Venezuela’s opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, 57, has been chosen for the prize for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights” and her courage in leading a peaceful movement against Venezuela’s authoritarian regime. Machado is the first Venezuelan to receive the Peace Prize. Norwegian Nobel Committee’s chair, Watne Frydnes, described her as “a unifying figure,” who built bridges by demanding free and fair elections.
Machado began her political journey more than two decades ago. She co-founded Súmate, a civic group advocating for free elections. Even as she faced serious threats and restrictions from the government, it did not stop her and her mission. She continued to push for transparent voting, stating that “it was a choice of ballots over bullets.” In 2024, she was Venezuela’s main opposition candidate in the presidential race before the regime barred her from running. But she did not withdraw from the elections. She backed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and was key to uniting rival parties behind Gonzalez. It was a rare display of solidarity in Venezuela’s broken political landscape. As she was forced into hiding and facing threats to her life, Machado continued to stay in Venezuela. Her continued presence became a symbol of resilience. The Nobel Committee said her decision to remain was an act that has inspired hope for millions of Venezuelans. Her ‘Comando Con Venezuela’ campaign trained hundreds of thousands of volunteers as election observers ahead of the 2024 election. Even with threats of arrest and harassment, the regime continued to guard polling stations and document results before officials could tamper with ballots. The move proved decisive in exposing electoral fraud.
The Nobel Committee said Machado’s leadership shows that “the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace.” This vision has turned Machado into a symbol of courage and faith. For Venezuelans, it is more than an award. Machado’s win places her among leaders who have defied oppression and inspired millions.
Machado has often termed President Nicolas Maduro’s leadership in Venezuela as a “dictatorship”. Machado has led several anti-government protests against Maduro from the forefront. She and the opposition also alleged that Nicolas Maduro had lost and stolen the 2024 presidential elections, when in reality, the original winner was her party colleague, Edmundo Gonzalez.
Obviously, Maduro’s government has not yet commented on Machado’s Nobel Prize yet. As a matter of fact, the country has ordered the closure of the Venezuelan embassy in Norway, a move showing his regime’s views against the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to recognise and honour her fight for democracy in the South American country. In a statement shared on Instagram, Venezuela’s foreign ministry said that the Maduro government has ordered its embassy in Norway’s capital closed as a result of an internal “reorganisation” of its diplomatic missions.
