About the Nobel Peace Prize Winner

When my parents told me and my brother what happened to Venezuela, they always described it as Voldemort taking over. 

They both left the country before Chavez, and haven’t returned since having me and my brother. We’ve grown up on “te quieros” and arepas, empanadas and tequeños, but we’ve never stepped foot on crystal beaches or mango-threaded streets. As described on The Nobel Prize website, since Chavez’s presidency, “Venezuela has evolved from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to a brutal, authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis.” So, yeah. Voldemort. 

Maria Corina Machado, a 58 year old Industrial Engineer and this year’s Nobel Prize winner, as described by Newsweek, has become a “lightning rod” for opposition against Maduro, Venezuela’s current president, and Chavez’s successor. The Nobel Prize website details how she has spoken out against his authoritarian rule for twenty years, and recently helped Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in the 2024 Venezuelan Presidential Election, after her campaign was blocked by the government. As The Nobel Prize says, Machado and her team “made sure the final tallies (of the vote) were documented before the regime could destroy ballots and lie about the outcome.” This means that with Maria Corina Machado’s help, the Venezuelan people were able to prove that Maduro actually lost the election, and that he should not be president. For this, and for her resistance against Maduro, she was awarded the prize. 

When I heard Maria Corina won the Nobel Prize, it was from my Papi on the way to school. I later celebrated with another Venezuelan who goes to my school, both of us completely overjoyed at her victory, because of what this means for us, of what this means for our families. 

Because of what Maria Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and advocate for democracy, means for Venezuela.

Sources

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2025/press-release/

https://www.newsweek.com/who-is-maria-corina-machado-venezuelan-leader-beats-trump-to-nobel-peace-prize-10858205