Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, while Donald Trump, who has repeatedly claimed he “deserves” the award, citing his assertions about “stopping seven wars,” missed out on the honour.
Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize for “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.” Besides being a vocal critic of her nation’s current regime, Machado is a fierce and longtime foe of Venezuela’s ‘autocratic president’, Nicolas Maduro, reported The Washington Times.
Not just Machado, but Donald Trump is also a long-time critic of Maduro. The Venezuelan opposition leader’s Nobel win comes amid the Trump administration’s tirade against Maduro.
Tensions in Venezuela
Recently, the Trump administration ordered airstrikes on a Venezuelan boat – killing 11 “narcoterrorists” from a gang he alleged was controlled by Nicolas Maduro.
In August 2025, the Trump administration even doubled a reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, accusing him of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world”. The reward now stands at $50million, as per multiple reports.
Also Read: Nobel Peace Prize 2025: Why Trump was rejected & Maria Corina Machado won – Nobel Committee says….
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as “illegitimate”.
On Friday, Venezuela requested an emergency meeting with the United Nations over the US military actions, stating it expects “armed attack” soon, reported CBS News.
Maria Corina Machado vs Maduro
Born on 7 October 1967, Maria Corina Machado is the current leader of the opposition in Venezuela.
Maria had stated that Maduro did not win the Venezuelan presidential elections in 2024 – claiming that he lost to her party colleague Edmundo Gonzalez, 67% to 30%.
Following the polls, Machado published a letter in the Wall Street Journal, in which she said she was writing from “hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen from the dictatorship led by Nicolas Maduro”.
When Marco Rubio praised Machado
Recently, Machado also featured in the TIME 100 Most Influential People of 2025 list. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated her, calling her the “Venezuelan Iron Lady”, who has “never backed down from her mission of fighting for a free, fair, and democratic Venezuela”.
What experts say
As per experts, Trump will have a hard time arguing against the Nobel committee’s decision since the US government has itself been critical of the current Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro.
“The democratic opposition of Venezuela is something that the US has been eager to support. So, in that sense, it would be hard for anyone to constitute this as an insult to Trump,” Halvard Leira, research director at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, told Reuters.
