It has been a whirlwind month for the world’s most prestigious peace accolade, the Nobel Peace Prize, with controversy and symbolism swirling around the 2025 award. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has spent over a year in hiding due to the repression of Nicolás Maduro’s regime, was named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on October 10, 2025. Her recognition comes at a time of heightened tension not only in Venezuela but also on the global stage, as U.S. President Donald Trump voiced open frustration at not being selected, even during a high-stakes White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Machado’s selection by the Norwegian Nobel Committee was celebrated as a triumph for those championing democracy in Venezuela. According to El País, the committee praised her for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Machado herself, in a recorded speech broadcast on October 20 at the World in Progress (WIP) Barcelona 2025 forum, declared, “After 26 years of darkness, Venezuela’s freedom is finally near. It has been a very long and painful journey.”
But as Machado’s star rose, rumbles of discontent echoed from Washington. During a White House meeting with Zelensky on October 17, President Trump reportedly “continuously complained that he had not received the Nobel Peace Prize,” according to The Washington Post, citing a European diplomat present at the meeting. The atmosphere was described as “chaotic,” with Trump’s grievances overshadowing even the urgent topic of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump’s preoccupation with the prize was not new. The White House, after the Nobel announcement, publicly expressed displeasure that Trump was overlooked, suggesting that “politics can trump peace in the committee’s decisions.” Trump himself, just weeks earlier on September 2, insisted he was not seeking the prize, but nonetheless emphasized, “I stopped seven wars,” and expected recognition for his efforts. Zelensky, ever the diplomat, responded that he would nominate Trump for the prize if he truly succeeded in halting the war in Ukraine.
These tensions unfolded against a backdrop of escalating conflict in Eastern Europe. On October 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine hand over full control of the Donetsk region as a precondition for ending hostilities, according to The Washington Post. The following day, Trump urged Kyiv to consider ceding part of Donbas to Russia to secure a peace deal, claiming that Putin “wants to end the war” and assuring that “this can be done quickly.” However, Trump later clarified on October 19 that he had not explicitly suggested giving up Donbas, but rather advised both sides to “stop at the place where the front line is now.”
Meanwhile, the Nobel Peace Prize selection process itself was, as ever, shrouded in secrecy and speculation. The Nobel Institute in Oslo revealed that the 2025 prize had attracted 338 nominations—244 individuals and 94 organizations. The identities of nominees and nominators remain confidential, with the list only published 50 years after the fact. Yet the political stakes are high, and the debate over who merits the award has become part of a broader conversation about the nature of peace and leadership in an increasingly polarized world.
Chief Scientific Director Nina Greger of the Oslo-based Institute for Peace Research offered a pointed critique of Trump’s record to Reuters: “Trump pulled the United States out of the WHO and the Paris climate agreement, and also launched a trade war against old friends and allies.” She argued that such actions contradict Alfred Nobel’s mandate, which calls for the prize to be awarded to those who have most contributed to “friendship among nations.” In her view, “this does not do” what the prize intends.
Back in Venezuela, Machado’s recognition by the Nobel Committee has given fresh hope to a movement battered by decades of repression. Forced into hiding since late August 2024, Machado has remained a vocal critic of Maduro’s regime. In her speech at WIP Barcelona 2025, she denounced Chavismo’s “close ties with organized crime,” and accused the government of using “division, lies, and fear” to maintain its grip on power. “Venezuela has demonstrated its resilience. We are ready to advance to a final stage of transition to democracy in peace,” she declared.
Machado recounted how, for years, the regime managed to prevail by “appealing to force and deception,” dividing society, spreading false narratives, and instilling fear. But she credited a turning point in 2023, when the opposition began to unite a “divided, sad, hopeless” population. This unity translated into a contested victory at the polls in the summer of 2024—a result Maduro claimed, but which much of the international community questioned. “We managed to do what was impossible: defeat the regime by its own rules. It was the victory of popular sovereignty,” Machado insisted.
She also asserted that “90% of society is united and determined to live in freedom,” and that “more than 80% of the Armed Forces and police also want to live with respect, justice, and the rule of law.” Her message: the regime is now “weaker than ever,” showing “more desperation, fracture, betrayals, and divisions” each day. Machado maintained that “these are tremendously dangerous and delicate times,” but said Venezuelans are “ready to rebuild a country that is in ruins.” She concluded, “Venezuela will be free, and its freedom will bring waves of democracy to our region and, I hope, to the world. For there to be peace, there must be freedom. And freedom requires moral, spiritual, and physical strength. And we have it.”
Her remarks drew praise from another Nobel laureate, former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, who received the Peace Prize in 2016 for his work on the FARC peace process. Santos, speaking at the same forum, emphasized Machado’s commitment to a peaceful solution and the need for reconciliation in Venezuela. “A country needs reconciliation to be able to work together toward a common goal. This reconciliation is absolutely necessary, and I have seen in María Corina that spirit, that attitude: if necessary, to sit down and negotiate and make sacrifices for a peaceful transition. This reconciliation requires generosity, a long-term vision, and peacemaking. We must persuade people to change their attitude,” he said. Santos also warned that “polarization and radicalism render democracies ineffective,” and stressed the importance of recovering the message of democratic values as autocracies gain ground globally.
As the Nobel Peace Prize continues to stir debate, the stories of its contenders—whether celebrated or overlooked—underscore the complex and often fraught nature of peace, politics, and the pursuit of justice in 2025.
