Maria Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her relentless advocacy for democracy in Venezuela, beating US President Donald Trump's chances of winning the prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday that it will honor Machado for “her tireless work to promote democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Who is Maria Corina Machado?
Born in 1967, Maria Corina Machado has been at the forefront of the struggle for democracy amid growing authoritarianism in Venezuela. She is now the leader of the country's opposition.
Machado studied technology and finance and worked in the business world for a short time. In 1992 she founded the Atenea Foundation, which aims to support street children in Caracas.
Ten years later, she became one of the founders of Súmate, an organization that promotes free and fair elections and provides training and election observations.
In 2010, she was elected to the National Assembly, receiving a record number of votes. However, the then regime removed her from office in 2014. Machado heads the opposition Vente Venezuela party and played a key role in founding the Soy Venezuela alliance in 2017, which brings together pro-democracy groups from different political spectrums in the country.
In 2023, she announced her candidacy for president in the 2024 elections. When she was barred from running, she supported the opposition's alternative candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
According to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Machado is mainly recognized for her contributions to promoting democracy in Venezuela, while the committee notes that global democracy is also in decline.
She was also recently included in TIME's list of 100 Most Influential People of 2025. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described her achievement as follows: “Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's Iron Lady, is the personification of resilience, tenacity and patriotism. Undaunted by formidable challenges, Maria Corina has never retreated from her mission to fight for a free, fair and democratic Venezuela.”
