Venezuela's María Corina Machado Wins Nobel Peace Prize

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Venezuela's María Corina Machado, a major opposition leader against dictator Nicolás Maduro, won the Nobel Peace Prize several days ago.

María Corina Machado has been a force of the Venezuelan people in recent years, fighting back against Nicolás Maduro's authoritarian government. Maduro has squashed his opposition since he was elected, bringing them down politically or even staging accidents where they have been killed. However, Machado has fought through and managed to win the election for Maduro's opponents– but Maduro did not concede his position.

In 1998, Hugo Chávez took control of the Venezuelan government after winning the country's election. He slowly undermined democratic institutions in a strategy that is known as democratic backsliding, eroding Venezuela's democracy. Soon, Chávez had a strong grip over the Venezuelan military and government, allowing him to assume the position of a dictator. Chávez died in 2013, allowing Nicolás Maduro to take control. He further undermined democracy, cementing his position as a dictator.

During this time, Venezuelan hero María Corina Machado slowly edged into the picture, building up connections with both Democrats and Republicans in the United States. Machado is also a former member of the national assembly, giving her some political presence as well.

In 2012, prior to Chávez's death, she had already started a voter rights group that campaigned against the dictator– she even went against him in a nationally-televised debate. Still, Maduro continued to hold a tight grip over the country, and massive amounts of Venezuelans had begun to leave the country.

Then, Maduro agreed to host an election in 2025 in exchange for the removal of US-placed sanctions on Venezuela's already-struggling economy. This time, Machado attempted another opposition attempt, gathering all of Maduro's opposition parties and bringing them together as one force. This gained significant amounts of voter support and set up the stage for a win.

After they gained traction, Machado was banned for running by a Venezuelan court in January 2024, but she continued with her work. Instead, the frontman was a relatively unknown politician named Edmundo González, who she campaigned behind. Machado traveled around the country to different towns and cities, small or big, and rallied the people for their cause.

When the election arrived in July, votes were submitted, but what happened afterwards was chaotic. After collecting the ballots, Machado found that her party had won the election in a landslide, garnering around twice as many votes as Maduro. However, Maduro alleged that the election was fraudulent and the opposition had skewed it towards their side– he still refuses to give up his position even today.

In honor of her efforts, she was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday. Many of her supporters remain jailed by Maduro, and others cannot show their support for her win without being arrested, but much of the country is in a state of celebration for her achievement.

The announcement was to the great disappointment of many White House officials, who had been campaigning for US President Donald Trump to win the prize. Trump had openly expressed his strong aspiration to receive the award in recent months, and the White House communications director Steven Cheung later stated that the Norwegian Nobel Committee clearly “proved they place politics over peace.” 

Despite this, Trump later stated that he received a call from Machado just after the awards ceremony, with the Venezuelan leader telling him that he deserved the award and she was accepting it in place of him. Trump also claimed that he'd been "helping her along the way," which the US has done.

The United States continues to show support for opposition efforts in Venezuela, primarily because the South American country is a particularly large source of dangerous drugs to enter the country. The US has also begun militarizing the Caribbean to prevent illegal drug transportation on small boats, and they are considering the implementation of a plan that would ramp up pressure on Maduro and allow for a quick transition to a González-led government.

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Image credit to Reuters