Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize laureate dedicates her award to Donald Trump
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to the people of Venezuela and to U.S. President Donald Trump for what she described as his “decisive support” for her country’s pro-democracy movement.
“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” Machado wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
She added, “We are on the threshold of victory, and today more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the nations of Latin America, and all democratic countries of the world as our key allies in achieving freedom and democracy.”
Machado has reportedly been in hiding for the past year following elections widely condemned as fraudulent, which authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro is accused of stealing.
The politician, who was barred from contesting the election, campaigned instead for her stand-in, ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, seen by much of the international community as the rightful winner.
The Nobel Committee cited her ‘tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.’
Machado, 58, has backed Trump’s ongoing campaign of military pressure on Maduro, including a major US naval deployment near Venezuela, as a ‘necessary measure’ towards a democratic transition in Venezuela.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, shared Machado’s post dedicating her Nobel to Trump on her X account.
Donald Trump, who brokered peace in Gaza and had been widely discussed as a contender, missed out on the prize, with Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jorgen Watne Frydnes suggesting he was not the most deserving candidate.
