 "Image courtesy: @NobelPrize")
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan activist Maria Corina Machado on Friday. Machado was given the coveted award 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.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said, “Ms Machado is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize first and foremost for her efforts to advance democracy in Venezuela. But democracy is also in retreat internationally. Democracy – understood as the right to freely express one’s opinion, to cast one’s vote and to be represented in elective government – is the foundation of peace both within countries and between countries.”
Who is she?
Machado is known for carrying out the democratic movement in a country that was marred by authoritarianism. Having studied engineering and finance, Machado picked up a completely different career path and launched the Atenea Foundation in 1992 for underprivileged children in Caracas.
Ten years later, she co-founded Súmate, an organisation that promotes free and fair elections through training and election monitoring. In 2010, she was elected to the National Assembly with a record number of votes, but the regime expelled her from office in 2014.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsToday, Machado leads the opposition party Vente Venezuela and, in 2017, helped establish the Soy Venezuela alliance, which brings together pro-democracy groups across political divides.
Machado in politics
Two years ago, in 2023, Machado announced her candidacy for the presidential elections. However, she was blocked from running, following which the activist supported the opposition’s alternative candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
In 2014, Machado was expelled from the Venezuelan Parliament after she denounced human rights abuses at the Organisation of American States. Throughout her life, Machado has been subjected to charges of treason and conspiracy, travel bans, and political disqualifications.