International Organizations and Activists Reject Far-Right Machado Nobel Peace Prize

Caracas, October 13, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Latin American social movements and regional leaders rejected the Nobel Committee’s decision to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan far-right leader María Corina Machado.

Machado’s prize was announced on Friday, leading several social movements to issue communiqués condemning the verdict and recalling the US-backed Machado’s violent and anti-democratic track record. 

Mesa Ecuménica, an Argentinian inter-faith coalition, expressed “deep perplexity and discontent” over the prize announced on Friday, stating that the Nobel Committee “tarnished the legacy” of past laureates.

“An award of this magnitude should recognize a tangible, verifiable and longstanding work to build peace, justice and unity among people,” its statement read. “Machado’s trajectory seems very distant from these principles.”

A coalition of Dominican solidarity movements and political organizations called the award a “betrayal of peace” and an instrumentalization of the Nobel Peace Prize as “a tool for Western intervention in Latin America.”

“Awarding the Nobel Peace prize to someone who has openly called for a US and Israeli military intervention represents an affront to the pacifist spirit that inspired Alfred Nobel,” the organizations stated.

Several chapters of the Anti-Fascist International also published statements denouncing the award as favoring Washington’s foreign policy agenda at a time of heightened military threats against Caracas and a large-scale US naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea.

Regional political leaders reacted as well, with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stating that the Nobel Committee had reached “unimagined levels of politicization and bias.” For his part, former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya called the award “turned a symbol of peace into an instrument of modern colonialism.”

Machado’s peace prize was likewise met with disbelief and criticism in Venezuela, with social media users recalling her reiterated calls for a foreign military intervention, participation in a coup attempt, and support for Israel.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro referred to the far-right politician as a “demoniacal” figure whose calls for foreign attacks are widely rejected by the Venezuelan people. Recent opinion polls showed that over 90 percent of Venezuelans oppose an outside intervention against the country.

On Monday, Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the closure of its embassies in Norway and Australia, citing “strategic reallocation of resources.”

A descendant of Venezuelan elites, Machado rose to prominence by participating in the 2002 coup that briefly ousted President Hugo Chávez. The far-right politician took part in several other regime-change efforts, including the 2014 “La Salida” street violence that led to dozens of deaths. 

In 2014, Machado attempted to garner support for an intervention in Venezuela by addressing the Organization of American States (OAS) using the Panamanian representative’s seat. This led to Machado being stripped of her position as National Assembly deputy in Venezuela.

Machado likewise promoted and endorsed far-reaching US-led economic sanctions against the country and has continued to openly call for a foreign intervention to oust the Maduro government. The opposition figure saw a ban on holding public office upheld by the Venezuelan Supreme Court in 2024.

The Venezuelan hardline opposition figure has also been a staunch ally and supporter of Israel, with her party Vente establishing an alliance with Israel’s Likud party in 2020. In 2018, Machado urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead a foreign intervention directed at regime change. She has also pledged to establish a Venezuelan embassy in Jerusalem in the case of assuming power.

Machado’s candidacy was promoted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, one of Washington’s main advocates of regime-change policies toward Venezuela. The Nobel committee stated that the award recognized Machado’s “tireless work promoting democratic rights […] and struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

In several press appearances in recent days, Machado dedicated the award to US President Donald Trump, claiming that the Venezuelan people are “grateful for what he’s doing around the world for peace.” For his part, Trump acknowledged Machado’s praise but insisted that he should have been the laureate.

In an October 11 interview with the BBC, Machado defended a “coordination of internal and external forces” to oust the Maduro government and argued that the South American country needs to be “liberated.”

Since August, Washington has maintained a large-scale military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, on the edge of Venezuelan territory, on a self-declared anti-narcotics mission. Assets include warships, aircraft and an estimated 4,500 troops, with analysts flagging signs of a regime-change operation.

US forces have bombed at least four boats since September, killing more than 20 civilians in total. The White House is reportedly weighing strikes against alleged drug targets inside Venezuelan territory. 

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting at Venezuela’s request, with Russia and China condemning US military threats. Caracas has denounced an imminent danger of US attacks as part of oil-driven regime change plans.

US authorities have accused Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials of engaging in “narcoterrorism.” However, they have not provided court-tested evidence to back the accusations, while drug trafficking reports show that only a marginal amount of US-bound drugs flows through Venezuelan territory.

Edited by Cira Pascual Marquina in Caracas.