Venezuelan opposition leader and recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado dedicated the award on Friday to both President Donald Trump and the “suffering people of Venezuela.”
Machado, a leading figure in the resistance against Venezuela’s ruling party, took to X to acknowledge the honor and to praise Trump for his support.
“This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom,” Machado said. “We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy.
A Nobel medal is displayed during a ceremony in New York, Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP, File)
In last year’s election, Machado rallied millions of Venezuelans to reject Maduro. She was described as a “brave and committed champion of peace” by Joergen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
“She is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for 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,” Frydnes said.
Trump was also among the contenders for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, awarded annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to global peace, following his brokering of a historic deal between Israel and Hamas.
