María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader driven into hiding since a disputed election last year, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for keeping “the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Machado received the accolade for tirelessly promoting democratic rights in Venezuela and “for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Friday, announcing the award at a ceremony in Oslo.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, in 1967, Machado trained as an industrial engineer before entering politics. In 2002, she founded Súmate, a volunteer group that promotes political rights and monitors…
