Maria Corina Machado, 58, was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 7, 1967.
Who is Nobel Peace Laureate Maria Corina Machado? Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights in her country and her struggle to achieve a transition to democracy, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
While in July 2025, The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Nominated President Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
The Pakistani government had already recommended President Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Following are some facts about the democracy campaigner:
Upper-class background
Maria Corina Machado, 58, was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 7, 1967. She is an industrial engineer by training, and her father was a prominent businessman in Venezuela’s steel industry. Her upper-class roots have made her a target of criticism from Venezuela’s governing socialist party.
In hiding
Machado won a resounding victory in the opposition’s primary election in 2023 and her rallies attracted large crowds, but a ban from holding public office prevented her from running for president against Nicolas Maduro in an election in 2024 and she went into hiding.
The country’s electoral authority and top court say Maduro, whose time in office has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the election though they have never published detailed tallies.
Machado emerged from hiding to make a brief appearance during a protest before Maduro’s inauguration in January. She was briefly arrested and then freed.
Advocate of liberal economic reforms
Machado advocates for liberal economic reforms, including the privatisation of state-owned enterprises such as PDVSA, Venezuela’s oil company. She also supports the creation of welfare programs aimed at aiding the country’s poorest citizens.
Political activism
Her political activism has come at a cost, leaving her isolated as nearly all of her senior advisers have been detained or forced to leave the country. Machado herself has accused Maduro’s administration of operating as a “criminal mafia.”
Collective struggle
Though sometimes criticised for being egotistical — even by her own mother — Machado rarely speaks about herself in public. Instead, she frames her campaign as a collective struggle for redemption and unity, aiming to inspire hope among Venezuelans weary of economic hardship and social decay.
White House says Nobel Committee puts ‘politics over peace’
The White House on Friday criticised the Nobel Prize committee’s decision to grant the peace prize to a Venezuelan opposition leader instead of US President Donald Trump, who aggressively lobbied for the award and touted his role in brokering international ceasefire deals.
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives. He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a post on X.
“The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee granted the annual award to Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado, citing “courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist” authoritarian leadership.
Trump has campaigned for the prize, and just this week announced a ceasefire and hostage deal to end the war in Gaza.
The president has not yet commented on the Nobel decision, but he did post three videos on his Truth Social account on Friday morning of supporters celebrating the Gaza deal.
Trump claims to have ended eight wars since taking office and insists he deserves the Nobel, though he said recently he fully expected to be passed over.
“Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They’ll give it to some guy that didn’t do a damn thing,” Trump told top US military leaders last month.
He said it would be a “big insult” to the United States if he didn’t get it.
Nominations for the Nobel must have been made before January 31 to be valid for this year’s prize. Trump returned to the White House for his second term in office on January 20.
