The announcement of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on October 16 sent shockwaves through the international community. The prestigious award was given to María Corina Machado, a figure at the heart of Venezuela’s turbulent political opposition. Known for her staunchly far-right stance and longstanding relationship with the United States government, Machado’s selection has reignited fierce debate over the meaning and purpose of the Peace Prize itself.
Machado’s political story is as layered as Venezuela’s own recent history. For more than two decades, according to Geopolitical Economy Report, Machado has been a central player in attempts to topple the country’s socialist government. She’s led or helped orchestrate violent coup attempts in 2002, 2014, 2017, 2019, and most recently in 2025—the very day she was awarded the Nobel Prize. Her movement has been buoyed by significant funding from the U.S. government, most notably through organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which has supported her efforts since at least 2003.
Machado’s vision for Venezuela is unambiguous. In a February 2025 interview with Donald Trump Jr., she made an extraordinary pledge: if she succeeded in ousting President Nicolás Maduro, she would privatize the nation’s vast, state-owned oil industry and open the country’s natural resources to American corporations. “Forget about Saudi Arabia; forget about the Saudis. I mean, we have more oil, I mean, infinite potential. And we’re going to open markets. We’re going to kick [out] the government from the oil sector. We’re going to privatize all our industry,” Machado told Trump Jr. Her enthusiasm for U.S. investment was palpable, as she declared, “Venezuela is going to be the brightest opportunity for investment of American companies, of good people that are going to make a lot of money.”
Such promises are not idle boasts. Venezuela boasts the world’s largest oil reserves—a fact that has shaped its modern history. U.S. corporations once profited handsomely from these resources, but the industry was nationalized under President Hugo Chávez, architect of the Bolivarian Revolution. Machado’s drive to privatize PDVSA, Venezuela’s oil giant, represents a dramatic reversal of this legacy. The U.S. government’s own actions have added fuel to the fire: during the Trump administration’s 2019-2020 coup attempt, the U.S. seized Citgo, Venezuela’s state-owned refinery company, in what many international observers have called an illegal act.
Machado’s political rise was not an organic groundswell. In the 2012 opposition primaries, she secured just 3.66% of the vote, while Henrique Capriles, a more moderate right-wing figure, won 63.91%. Capriles, who has run against both Chávez and Maduro, has publicly criticized Machado’s extremism. In an interview with BBC in August 2025, Capriles warned against the dangerous allure of foreign military intervention: “The large part of the people who want a military solution and there to be a US invasion do not live in Venezuela. They do not even consider what would be the consequences of that. Human lives are lost.”
Nevertheless, Machado’s uncompromising tactics and rhetoric have steadily gained traction within the opposition, reflecting a broader radicalization. She has openly supported U.S. military actions not only in Venezuela but in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Palestine, and Iran. Her alignment with U.S. foreign policy is total; in her interview with Trump Jr., she condemned China, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, Hamas, and Hezbollah, signaling an intent to make Venezuela a “strongest ally in the region for the United States.”
The U.S. government, for its part, has consistently supported hardline opposition figures like Machado. This bipartisan strategy—spanning the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden—has included economic sanctions, covert funding, and open backing of coup attempts. Machado’s close ties to American political elites are well documented: she met with President George W. Bush at the White House in 2005, just two years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In her February 2025 conversation with Trump Jr., Machado was candid about her ongoing efforts to unseat Maduro. “We will never surrender. We have a plan to get rid of Maduro. We are executing it, and we will win this battle,” she said. She doubled down on her commitment to U.S. interests, promising a regime that would be “the strongest ally in the region for the United States and democracies in the western hemisphere.” Her praise for Trump was effusive: “For me, President Trump is on the side of the Venezuelan people, of democracy, and prosperity for the US, and for Venezuela as well.”
Machado also expressed deep gratitude to a roster of U.S. officials who have supported Venezuela’s opposition. She singled out Marco Rubio—currently serving as both secretary of state and national security advisor—alongside Mike Waltz, Rick Scott, Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez, and Speaker Mike Johnson. “So we know we are surrounded by a great team that trusts Venezuela, and we trust them as well,” Machado said.
One of the more surprising revelations from the Trump Jr. interview was the involvement of Elon Musk. According to Trump Jr., Musk provided 160 Starlink antennas to Machado’s team, enabling them to upload documents online that claimed Maduro had stolen the 2024 presidential election. Machado explained, “We were able to put them on a website thanks to the Starlink equipment that we have got secretly, [under]cover, in our country.” The use of Starlink technology in Venezuela follows a pattern seen in other U.S.-backed operations, including Ukraine and Iran, where Musk’s satellite internet has played a controversial role.
This high-tech support, combined with longstanding U.S. government backing, has given Machado unprecedented tools in her campaign against Maduro. Yet, the opposition’s claims of election fraud have been met with skepticism both inside and outside Venezuela, as many of the alleged vote “tally sheets” have been described as irregular or outright fabricated.
Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize win has sparked a firestorm of criticism and debate. Supporters hail her as a champion of democracy in a country beset by authoritarian rule, while detractors point to her record of supporting violent regime change and her eagerness to sell off Venezuela’s resources to foreign interests. The controversy underscores the deep divisions not only within Venezuela but also among the international community about the future of the country and the true meaning of peace and democracy.
As Machado’s star rises on the global stage, the stakes for Venezuela—and for the broader region—have never been higher. The coming months will reveal whether her promises of transformation will bring stability or further turmoil to a nation already at the crossroads of history.
