Trump Loses Nobel Peace Prize To Venezuela’s Opposition Leader, Maria Machado

Venezuela’s opposition leader and democracy advocate, Maria Corina Machado, has been named the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, made the announcement on Friday, October 10, 2025.

Maria Machado was honoured “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.”

Machado has been a “key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided … in a brutal authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis,” he said.

The committee described her as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times”, noting that she has spent much of the past year in hiding due to government persecution.

“Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions.”

Meanwhile, the United States President Donald Trump, who had openly expressed his wish to receive the award, was left out.

Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he deserves the Nobel Prize for his role in resolving international conflicts, a claim that many analysts say is overstated.

Experts in Oslo had already dismissed his chances, arguing that his “America First” approach contradicts the principles behind the Nobel Peace Prize as defined in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will.

Last year’s Peace Prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization representing atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, known for its anti-nuclear activism.

This year’s award includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a cash prize of $1.2 million.

The formal ceremony will take place in Oslo on December 10, marking the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.

The Peace Prize is the only Nobel award presented in Oslo; the others are announced in Stockholm.

On Thursday, the Nobel Prize in Literature went to Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai, known for his exploration of themes such as postmodern dystopia and melancholy.

The 2025 Nobel season will conclude on Monday with the announcement of the economics prize.

KanyiDaily recalls that President Donald Trump recently signed a new order raising the application fee for H-1B visas to $100,000