Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize, being credited by the awarding committee with keeping “the flame of democracy burning amidst growing darkness”.
The committee said she had resisted death threats to fight for democracy in opposition to President Nicolas Maduro – widely considered a dictator.
Officially, she won the 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”.
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But who is Ms Machado, and what did she do to earn the coveted award?
Who is Maria Corina Machado?
Ms Machado, 58, announced she was running for president in 2023, ahead of the election in July 2024.
She had unified the Vente Venezuela opposition party, winning its primary election by a landslide, and her rallies in the lead-up to the general election began attracting large crowds.
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She became popular among the public in the face of ever-expanding authoritarianism under Mr Maduro, who has led the country since 2013.
The country’s courts, heavily influenced by Mr Maduro, blocked Ms Machado from running.
She was subsequently forced into hiding as the president’s government routinely targeted its real or perceived opponents, regularly making arrests and violating human rights.
The relatively unknown Edmundo Gonzalez took her place as the opposition’s candidate, but Mr Maduro won a third six-year term in July last year with 51% of the vote.
It came after opposition volunteers managed to collect copies of voting tallies from 80% of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, which showed Mr Gonzalez won by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
But the electoral authority is controlled by those loyal to Mr Maduro, as is Venezuela’s Supreme Court, which ruled that the polling tallies were forged.
Machado comes out of hiding to lead protests
Despite telling reporters she feared for her life, Ms Machado came out of hiding to join thousands in protests against the president days after his victory.
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She addressed crowds in the capital city of Caracas, telling supporters: “Just as it took us a long time to achieve electoral victory, now comes a stage that we take day-by-day, but we have never been as strong as today, never.”
Her appearance came even as the president told his supporters at a rally of his own that there “will be no forgiveness” for those behind the unrest, and that “maximum punishment” would be handed down.
She came out of hiding again in January this year to lead more protests in the lead-up to Maduro’s inauguration.
The US-based Human Rights Watch said at least 20 people were killed in post-election protests.
Thousands of others were arrested in connection with the demonstrations, according to the government.
Has Machado reacted to the prize win?
While Ms Machado has yet to comment publicly, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the committee had been able to reach her just before the announcement and that “it came as a surprise” to her.
Her ally, Mr Gonzalez, who lives in exile in Spain, posted a short video of himself speaking by phone with Ms Machado.
“I am in shock,” she is heard saying, adding, “I cannot believe it.”
He posted the video along with a message saying the prize was “very well-deserved recognition for the long fight of a woman and of a whole people for our freedom and democracy”.
“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,” Mr Watne Frydnes said as he named her the prize winner.
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He said she was a “key, unifying figure” in the once deeply divided opposition against the president, adding: “In the past year, Ms Machado has been forced to live in hiding.
“Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.”
What is Machado’s background?
Ms Machado, born in Caracas in Venezuela on 7 October 1967, trained as an industrial engineer and had a short career in business before becoming a politician.
She is the daughter of a prominent businessman in Venezuela’s steel industry, leading some of her opponents to criticise her for having upper-class roots.
By 1992, she had set her sights on helping the Venezuelan public, establishing the Atenea Foundation, which works to benefit street children in Caracas.
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She co-founded Sumate 10 years later, which promotes free and fair elections and has conducted training and election monitoring.
She was elected to the National Assembly in 2010, winning a record number of votes, before Mr Maduro’s regime expelled her from office in 2014.
In 2017, she helped found the Soy Venezuela alliance, which unites pro-democracy forces in the country across political dividing lines.
