Discover how a Nobel laureate navigated challenges to receive her award amidst political turmoil.
Wednesday, December 10, will likely go down as one of the most important days in history for Venezuela and, eventually, our entire region.
On the other hand, it could very well be one of the worst days of Nicolás Maduro’s life.
As I reported earlier, Donald Trump confirmed that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela and «other things are happening», but he didn’t specify what those things were. He did say we’d learn about them soon enough.
Meanwhile, Maduro is down there repeating Democrat talking points like he’s running for Congress.
Maduro sends a new message to America in English:
“No more Vietnam!
No more Somalia!
No more Iraq!
No more Afghanistan!
No more Libya!” pic.twitter.com/8qGv6KUT90— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 10, 2025
Even worse for the illegitimate «president» of the South American nation, he was called out on one of the biggest stages in the world today as the woman who has spent years trying to take him and his predecessor down and bring democracy to Venezuela was officially awarded her Nobel Peace Prize.
María Corina Machado, who has been in hiding since August 2024 and hasn’t been in public since January, didn’t make it to Oslo for the ceremony — more on that in a minute (I swear I’d watch a movie about how it all went down) — but her presence was felt by everyone around the world who was watching. This wasn’t about a worthless prize that means nothing at the end of the day. This was about a movement to eradicate one of the world’s most harmful cancers. It brought together important leaders from the U.S. and Latin America, ordinary Venezuelans who live in exile because they had to flee their own homeland, and people like myself in the U.S. who watched from afar but who are rooting for this country to return to its former excellence with everything we’ve got.
What surprised me the most about the ceremony was that Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, took time to call Maduro out and warn him that he must relinquish power, while making the presentation.
«Your power is not permanent. Your violence will not prevail over people who rise and resist. Mr. Maduro, accept the election results and step down», he said as the crowd erupted into cheers outside. Here’s the video. It gave me chills:
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee at the #NobelPeacePrize Ceremony today, 10 December.
