Venezuelan Opposition Leader Who Backs Trump’s Intervention, Use of Force, Wins Nobel Peace Prize
The award comes at a time when the United States has deployed warships and as many as 4,000 armed forces personnel in the Caribbean region and has also launched airstrikes at what it claims are drug vessels off the Venezuelan coast.
Maria Corina Machado. Photo: X/@NobelPrize, Illustration by Niklas Elmehed.
New Delhi: The Nobel committee may have dashed US president Donald Trump’s hopes for the peace prize but their pick for 2025 – Venezuelan opposition politician Maria Corina Machado – may well help pave the way for him to escalate the war he has already unleashed against the government of that country.
Machado was awarded the coveted prize for what the committee has described as her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from
This year, the prize has been under considerable spotlight because US President Donald Trump has been particularly keen on it, repeating several times that he has stopped seven wars – the India-Pakistan May tension among them – and that he deserves the prize. In the run-up to Friday’s announcement, analysts speculated that Trump may impose tariffs, demand higher Nato contributions or even declare Norway an enemy, if denied the prize he was coveting.
By picking Machado, the Nobel committee has made such an outcome quite unlikely.
The award comes at a time when the United States has deployed warships and as many as 4,000 armed forces personnel in the Caribbean region and has also launched airstrikes at what it claims are drug vessels on the Venezuelan coast. The Trump administration has accused Venezuealan President Nicolas Maduro of drug smuggling and placed a bounty on his head – raising fears of a targeted assassination bid aimed at effecting regime change in the country.
While some opposition leaders in Venezuela have expressed misgivings over the danger of US military intervention, Machado is seen as a supporter of Trump’s aggressive approach and today was quick to dedicate her Nobel prize to the US president
Venezuela has of late transitioned from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to a state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis. Almost eight million people have left the country.
The leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, in the past year, the committee noted, 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, and has brought her country’s deeply divided opposition together, it said. “She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy,” the prize has noted.
Machado is the founder Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, and had stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago. Machado has spoken out for judicial independence, human rights and popular representation. through the years.
Ahead of the election of 2024, Machado was the opposition’s presidential candidate, but the regime blocked her candidacy. She then backed the representative of a different party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilised across political divides.
“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. 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,” the Nobel committee noted in the announcement.
It also said, “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.”
Also Read: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize https://www.vibesofindia.com/ukrainian-president-zelenskyy-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize/
