María Corina Machado dedicates Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelans, Donald Trump

“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.

“We are on the threshold of victory, and 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 much of the past year in hiding after Venezuela’s disputed 2024 election, which President Nicolás Maduro has been accused of rigging to maintain power, media reports said.

Barred from running herself, she campaigned for her ally and stand-in candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, whom much of the international community regards as the rightful winner.

Announcing the award in Oslo, the Nobel Committee cited Machado’s “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 supported Trump’s hard-line stance toward the Maduro regime, including a recent U.S. naval deployment near Venezuelan waters, calling it a “necessary measure” to hasten a democratic transition.

Reactions in Washington and Caracas

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reposted Machado’s message dedicating her Nobel to Trump, highlighting it as “a recognition of true leadership.”

Several Venezuelan opposition figures also congratulated Machado.

Two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles wrote on X: “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.”