The award goes to a classical liberal and free market advocate who has risked her life to challenge Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute has awarded Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado the Nobel Peace Prize “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.”
“I have no words. Thank you so much, but I hope you understand this is a movement. This is an achievement of a whole society. I am just one person”, Machado told Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, during the call announcing her win on Friday.
For the past 14 months, Machado has been living in hiding, likely somewhere in Venezuela, after leading the pro-democracy movement that became the driving force behind the country’s 2024 presidential election. Her retreat into hiding reflects the regime’s intensifying crackdown on dissent, which has left more than 800 opposition activists imprisoned, including several of her closest collaborators.
Among Venezuelan opposition leaders, Machado stands out for her belief in classical liberalism and free market capitalism. Her platform calls for the privatization of the country’s state-owned oil industry, arguing that Venezuela can once again become a capitalist success story if the government radically reduces its role in managing the economy. She is also one of the few prominent figures to openly embrace socially liberal causes, such as same-sex marriage and the use of medical marijuana. The Maduro regime has characterized her movement as “anarcho-capitalist.”
Although opposition to Venezuela’s authoritarian regime spans the political spectrum—from the Venezuelan Communist Party to Machado’s own Vente Venezuela, a liberal party—her determination and leadership have made her the central figure in the country’s pro-democracy movement, earning her the nickname “the Iron Lady.
