María Corina Machado received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in fighting the Venezuelan dictatorship Oct, 10, despite the anticipation of some for the current President of the United States Donald Trump to receive it.
Ironically, though, the woman awarded for her efforts in combatting political oppression in Venezuela dedicated her award to the U.S. president that is currently driving America’s descent towards authoritarianism.
Venezuela has been struggling both politically and economically in the past decades, unfortunately degrading their government to that of a petrostate, heavily reliant on their natural resources and highly corrupt. These unstable government issues were exacerbated by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela who obtained power through Hugo Chavez in the late 1990s, and have been leading the nation towards a dictatorship since.
The current president, Nicholas Maduro, succeeded Chavez in 2013 and maintains the political powergrip. Maduro remains in this executive power through an undemocratic election in 2024, where he unjustly manipulated his control of the presidency through extreme government censorship and voting barriers.
Machado, a former deputy of the Venezuelan National Deputy, was barred from running in this 2024 election after her alleged involvement in corruption, financial manipulation and support of U.S. sanctions.
This 15-year-ban was more likely a result of her popularity amongst Venezuelans, as she won the primary election in 2023 in a landslide, with a turnout of roughly 2.4 million voters, 93% of them having supported Machado.
Machado has an impressive history of defending human and democratic rights in Venezuela. She established the Atenea Foundation in 1992, which supports street children in Venezuela’s capital. Súmate was another one of Machado’s democratic endeavors, an organization established in 2002 to encourage just and representative elections. Among this all, she remains the leader of the Vente Veneszeluen Party.
She remains in hiding in Venezuela, working behind the scenes to rebuild the democracy that has been smothered by the current regime.
Due to her unwavering fight for democracy and bravery amidst a highly dangerous and controlling dictatorship, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Machado the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Prize Organization applauded Machado for her brave efforts of defending democracy, but even went on to state that, “democracy is also in retreat internationally. Democracy – understood as the right to freely express one’s opinion, to cast one’s vote and to be represented in elective government – is the foundation of peace both within countries and between countries.”
Unfortunately, this impactful message by the foundation became deluded by Machado’s devotion to President Trump. Ironically, the Noble Laurent who fights for the free and fair elections in her home country, shockingly dedicated her recognition of these efforts to an American president attempting to corrupt his nation in a similar way.
Machado could be feeding Trump’s ego to leverage his power into legitimate change for Venezuela, but at what cost? As the Nobel Prize Organization states, “democracy… is the foundation of peace both within countries and between countries.” If Machado endorses the very man who is rapidly degrading democracy in America, the global standard for stability and peace will waver, ultimately affecting all.
The tragic irony here is the uncanny parallels between Maduro’s evident authoritarianism in Venezuela and the unraveling dictatorship in America, rooted in President Trump’s corrupt administrations. Maduro created numerous barriers to voting, ultimately manipulating the election that gave him power, similarly to that of Trump.
Trump’s excessive fear mongering and obsession with a false voter fraud narrative all work to weaken the democratic voting system. He is instilling extreme voter barriers that target the oppressed, and make it much more difficult to have an election that represents the masses vote.
In the 2024 presidential election, Trump used the influence and wealth of our nation’s most affluent citizens to persuade the public of his re-election — as seen through Elon Musk’s $1 million reward raffle open to any American voting for Trump.
While currently in office, Trump targets numerous political opponents in the media and threatens imprisonment similarly to Maduro, who has detained 841 political prisoners.
It is incredibly disheartening to see the woman applauded for her protection of democracy, dedicate it to someone who so clearly craves power for himself instead of its distribution to the people. At large, this reflects a theme of politicians and powerful figures surrendering to the Trump regime — domestically and internationally.
