Nobel Peace Prize 2025: Who is Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan politician currently in hiding?

Machado, 57, is one of Venezuela’s most prominent dissidents and has been in hiding for much of the past year.

A longtime critic of the country’s socialist governments, Machado led a nationwide opposition movement that sought to unseat President Nicolás Maduro through peaceful means.

Announcing the award in Oslo, the Nobel Committee praised Machado as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times,” crediting her for unifying Venezuela’s fragmented opposition for free and fair elections.

“Maria Corina Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace,” the committee said in a statement.

“She embodies the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard.”

Venezuela’s once prosperous democracy has slid into authoritarian rule under Maduro, whose government has jailed opponents, restricted the press and overseen an economic collapse that has driven nearly 8 million people to flee the country.

Machado founded the civic group Súmate more than two decades ago to monitor elections and advocate for democratic participation.

Barred from running in last year’s presidential election, she instead backed opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who, according to independent tallies, defeated Maduro. The government refused to recognise the result.

Machado, according to BBC, is one of the 100 most influential and inspiring leaders in the world.

Safety risks

The decision to honour a figure currently in hiding raised immediate questions about her safety.

Asked whether the award could increase the risks she faces, Nobel Committee chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes acknowledged the dilemma.

“You’re now touching upon some of the absolutely most difficult dilemmas in the work of the committee,” Frydnes told reporters. “Particularly when the person who receives the prize is in hiding because of serious threats to her life. We are also taking the consideration that this prize will support her cause and not limit it.”

When asked if Machado would be able to travel to Norway for the December award ceremony, Reiss-Andersen said it was “too early to say.”

“We always hope to have the laureate with us in Oslo,” she said. “But this is a serious security situation, which needs to be handled.”