Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, recognised 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”.

In an announcement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on Friday, described Ms Machado as the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela”, and “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times”.

It stated that Ms Machado met the three criteria outlined in Alfred Nobel’s will for selecting a Peace Prize laureate, recognising her role in uniting her country’s opposition and her unwavering resistance to the militarisation of Venezuelan society.

“Ms Machado has been 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,” it said. “This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree.”

As a founder of Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, Ms Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago, the committee noted.

Ms Machado was noted for saying, “It was a choice of ballots over bullets.”

“In political office and in her service to organisations since then, Ms Machado has spoken out for judicial independence, human rights and popular representation,” the committee added.

Reaffirming its decision, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said its latest decision is in tandem with its vision to honour “brave women and men who have stood up to repression, who have carried the hope of freedom in prison cells, on the streets and in public squares, and who have shown by their actions that peaceful resistance can change the world”.

It explained that Ms Machado showed that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace, as the politician embodies “hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard”.