10 October,2025 03:30 PM IST | Oslo | mid-day online correspondent
Maria Corina Machado. Pic/X
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2025 in recognition of her role as a unifying force within Venezuela's pro-democracy movement and her continued advocacy for free and fair elections, news agency AP reported.
Announcing the Nobel Peace Prize 2025, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, praised Machado as a "key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided - an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government".
A former presidential candidate and a prominent voice against authoritarianism in Venezuela, Machado has become a symbol of peaceful resistance and democratic reform in a nation facing years of political and economic crisis, AP reported.
The Nobel Peace Prize, awarded annually in Oslo, Norway, is considered one of the world's most prestigious honours - and also one of the most unpredictable. It is the only Nobel Prize that is awarded in Oslo. The remain awards - medicine or physiology, physics, chemistry, literature, and economics are announced in Stockholm, Sweden.
Each year, the committee typically recognises efforts that contribute to the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity, and the quiet but impactful work of institutions and individuals committed to those goals.
In the run-up to this year's announcement, there was considerable speculation about possible recipients, including Donald Trump, largely fuelled by the US President himself. However, long-time Nobel observers had noted that his chances remained slim, despite some high-profile foreign policy initiatives.
Other groups cited by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) as potential contenders included:
Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms, a grassroots humanitarian network
The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, for their role in upholding international law
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based organisation advocating for press freedom and documenting journalist fatalities worldwide.
Last year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots organisation of Japanese atomic bomb survivors who have worked for decades to maintain a global taboo on the use of nuclear weapons.
This year's Nobel prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, and literature have already been awarded in Stockholm throughout the week. The economics prize will be announced on Monday.
(With AP inputs)
