Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights in her country and her fight to achieve a transition to democracy, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
Below are some facts about the democracy activist:
Upper class background
María Corina Machado, 58 years old, was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 7, 1967. She is an industrial engineer by training and her father was a prominent businessman in the Venezuelan steel industry. Her upper-class roots have made her a target of criticism from Venezuela’s ruling socialist party.
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Machado won a resounding victory in the opposition primary elections in 2023 and his rallies attracted large crowds, but a ban on holding public office prevented him from running for president against Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 elections and he had to go into hiding.
The country’s electoral authority and top court say Maduro, whose term has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the election, although they never published detailed counts.
Machado came out of hiding to make a brief appearance during a protest before Maduro’s inauguration in January. She was briefly arrested and later released.
Advocate of liberal economic reforms
Machado advocates liberal economic reforms, including the privatization of state-owned companies such as PDVSA, Venezuela’s oil company. It also supports the creation of welfare programs aimed at helping the country’s poorest citizens.
Political activism
Her political activism has come at a cost: it has left her isolated, as almost all of her top advisers have been detained or forced to leave the country. Machado herself has accused the Maduro government of operating like a “criminal mafia.”
Collective struggle
Although she is sometimes criticized for being selfish, even by her own mother, Machado rarely talks about herself in public. Instead, he frames his campaign as a collective fight for redemption and unity, aiming to inspire hope among Venezuelans tired of economic hardship and social decay.
