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The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded for efforts towards creating a better organized and more peaceful world, through protecting human rights and democracy, and limiting the harm done by man-made climate change and threats to the environment.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, for “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.” Machado united the fragmented opposition to dictatorship and has emphasized economic and environmental justice. Including regulating and reducing Venezuela’s dependence on extractive industries that cause environmental harm. We all can take heart from Machado’s activism and the Nobel committee’s decision.
Presumptive Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro barred Machado from running for president in 2024 and has forced her into hiding. Considering President Donald Trump’s concerns about fair elections and the persecution of political candidates, his criticism of Maduro, and attacks on Venezuela, one might think Trump would celebrate the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
In response to the award announcement, the White House said “the Nobel Committee has proved they place politics over peace.”
“President Trump will continue ending wars … there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” it added.
Annlinn Kruger
Bar Harbor
