By honoring Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Committee has effectively endorsed Trump’s interpretation of power and intervention as synonymous with ‘peace’.
Published On 16 Oct 2025
Despite the White House’s swift criticism of the Nobel Committee for prioritizing “politics over peace” by not awarding the prize to then-President Donald Trump, the administration found satisfaction in the prize being granted to Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado. Both Trump and Machado share a similar right-wing authoritarian ideology, which partly explains the president’s prompt congratulations and Machado’s dedication of the honor to him.
Machado, a prominent figure in Venezuela’s far-right opposition, has long championed a version of peace that actively seeks to destabilize the nation’s democratic institutions and sovereignty. In 2002, she played a key role in the attempted overthrow of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s democratically elected leader. Undaunted by this setback, Machado has since worked to cultivate an opposition movement aimed at generating political and economic turmoil to dismantle the government and reinstate oligarchic control. Her tactics have included inciting violent protests to obstruct public spaces, targeting political adversaries, sabotaging the economy, and instilling fear among large portions of the population. More recently, she controversially called upon Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-whose military actions in Gaza she openly supports-to bomb Venezuela as a means of “liberation.”
Machado’s international stature has been bolstered by Western media and political figures who portray her as a champion of freedom rather than a source of instability. This carefully crafted image resonates with right-wing populists in the US and Europe, who increasingly position themselves as defenders of democratic renewal. By bestowing the Nobel Peace Prize upon her, the committee has effectively sanitized her reputation and reinforced the notion that Western powers exclusively define legitimate democracy.
The real concern surrounding Machado’s Nobel accolade is not merely the committee’s frequent misjudgments or the largely uncritical mainstream media response. Rather, it lies in how this award legitimizes and encourages Trump’s aggressive military interventions and coercive diplomacy in Latin America. For Venezuela, this endorsement signals that violent regime change is now a viable and openly considered option.
Indeed, Machado herself has hinted that the Nobel Prize’s spotlight could accelerate foreign interference in Venezuela, a belligerent stance echoed by commentators like Bret Stephens in The New York Times. This aligns with Machado’s history of supporting Trump’s unauthorized campaigns against narcotics trafficking, applauding his invasion threats, and advocating for international sanctions that have devastated Venezuela’s economy and caused widespread suffering.
Recent revelations underscore these fears. Just this past Wednesday, The New York Times disclosed that the Trump administration authorized covert CIA operations aimed at destabilizing Venezuela’s government. This confirmation validates concerns that awarding Machado under the guise of “peace” emboldens Washington to pursue regime change through clandestine means. In effect, the Nobel Committee has inadvertently provided moral justification for the very interventions it was supposed to denounce.
Put simply, the issue with Machado receiving the Nobel Peace Prize extends beyond a superficial misunderstanding of peace. It embraces and legitimizes the Trumpian distortion where violence is rebranded as peace, serving as a tool to advance authoritarianism disguised as democracy. In this framework, political opponents are demonized as enemies of liberty who must be eradicated, enabling a broader agenda that enriches the elite while impoverishing working-class populations.
In this context, the concepts of Venezuelan sovereignty and democracy hold as little significance for Machado as they do for Trump. The modus operandi of right-wing authoritarianism across the Americas is strikingly similar: to concentrate political power within a wealthy elite that enforces discredited economic policies favoring wealth accumulation at the top, while dismantling regulations protecting natural resources and public services vital to working people. Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Machado, who masks violent foreign intervention and economic warfare on the poor with a democratic veneer, is not only detrimental to Venezuela but also deeply alarming for the broader region and the global community.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
