Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado has dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to both the people of Venezuela and US President Donald Trump, praising his “decisive support” for her country’s pro-democracy struggle.
“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” Machado wrote on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after receiving the prestigious award on Friday.
In a follow-up post, she emphasized that Venezuela stood “on the threshold of victory,” calling for continued backing from the United States, other democratic nations, and Latin American allies. “Today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve freedom and democracy,” she added.
Machado, 58, has spent the past year in hiding inside Venezuela after being barred from participating in last year’s presidential elections — a vote widely denounced by the international community as fraudulent and orchestrated by President Nicolás Maduro to cement his hold on power.
Although prevented from running herself, Machado threw her full support behind opposition candidate and former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, who many international observers regard as the legitimate victor of the disputed election.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee lauded Machado 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.”
Throughout her campaign, Machado has aligned herself with Trump’s hardline stance against the Maduro regime, including his authorization of a significant U.S. naval presence near Venezuelan waters — a move she has described as a “necessary measure” to catalyze a transition to democracy.
Following the announcement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reposted Machado’s dedication to Trump on her own X account, highlighting the symbolic political weight of her tribute.
Machado’s award was met with congratulations from across Venezuela’s fractured opposition movement. Henrique Capriles, a two-time presidential contender, welcomed the recognition as a morale boost for the nation’s long fight for freedom.
“May this recognition be another boost to achieve PEACE and for our Venezuela to leave behind the suffering and recover the freedom and democracy for which it has fought for so many years,” Capriles wrote on X.
The Nobel Peace Prize marks a major international endorsement of Machado’s leadership and her years-long resistance against Maduro’s government, widely criticized for its authoritarianism, economic mismanagement, and human rights abuses.
Source: BBC
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