“She embodies the hope for a different future.” The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Venezuelan politician and leader of the country’s democratic movement María Corina Machado

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize for 2025 to María Corina Machado for her “tireless efforts to advance the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and her struggle for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

She is one of the founders of Súmate, an organization that has been promoting free and fair elections in Venezuela and monitoring electoral processes for more than 20 years.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, Ms. Machado was a presidential candidate, but the regime disqualified her from running. She then endorsed another candidate and united the opposition. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilized despite political differences. They were trained as election observers to ensure transparent and fair voting. Despite the risks of persecution, arrest, and torture, citizens across the country worked to document the final vote count before the regime could destroy the ballots or falsify the results.

The collective efforts of the opposition, both before and during the elections, were innovative, courageous, peaceful, and democratic, and were recognized by the international community — even though Venezuela’s ruling regime refused to acknowledge the results.

“Over the past year, Ms. Machado has been forced into hiding. Despite serious threats to her life, she chose to remain in the country — a decision that has inspired millions. María Corina Machado meets all three criteria set forth in Alfred Nobel’s will for the Peace Prize laureate. She united her country’s opposition. She has never wavered in her resistance to the militarization of Venezuelan society. She remains steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy,” noted the Nobel Committee.

In 2024, María Corina Machado also received two prestigious awards — the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, granted by the European Parliament, and the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, an annual distinction recognizing outstanding achievements in the defense of human rights in Europe and beyond.

The Center for Civil Liberties sincerely congratulates María Corina Machado on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and expresses gratitude for her relentless struggle to preserve democracy.

“Awarding María Corina Machado the Nobel Peace Prize is not only a recognition of her personal courage. It is also an acknowledgment of every nation’s right to democracy, to have a voice, to have justice. For Ukraine, which is itself enduring a war between democracy and authoritarianism, this award is a sign — we are not alone in our struggle.

Today, authoritarian countries are joining forces and supporting one another: China helps Russia circumvent sanctions and import technology critical to its war effort; Iran supplies drones and missiles; and North Korea sends artillery shells and even troops. That is why it is so important to stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of democracy — to protect it from external aggression and internal challenges such as populism or the loss of public trust, and to continuously strengthen it, making it more vibrant, people-centered, and effective. Because only the expansion of freedom can make our world safer,” — Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of the Center for Civil Liberties.