Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights in her country and her struggle to achieve a transition to democracy, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

Following are some facts about the democracy campaigner:

Upper-class background

Maria Corina Machado, 58, was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 7, 1967. She is an industrial engineer by training, and her father was a prominent businessman in Venezuela’s steel industry. Her upper-class roots have made her a target of criticism from Venezuela’s governing socialist party.

In hiding

Machado won a resounding victory in the opposition’s primary election in 2023 and her rallies attracted large crowds, but a ban from holding public office prevented her from running for president against Nicolas Maduro in an election in 2024 and she went into hiding.

The country’s electoral authority and top court say Maduro, whose time in office has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the election though they have never published detailed tallies.

Machado emerged from hiding to make a brief appearance during a protest before Maduro’s inauguration in January. She was briefly arrested and then freed.

Advocate of liberal economic reforms

Machado advocates for liberal economic reforms, including the privatisation of state-owned enterprises such as PDVSA, Venezuela’s oil company. She also supports the creation of welfare programs aimed at aiding the country’s poorest citizens.

Political activism

Her political activism has come at a cost, leaving her isolated as nearly all of her senior advisers have been detained or forced to leave the country. Machado herself has accused Maduro’s administration of operating as a “criminal mafia.”

Collective struggle

Though sometimes criticised for being egotistical — even by her own mother — Machado rarely speaks about herself in public. Instead, she frames her campaign as a collective struggle for redemption and unity, aiming to inspire hope among Venezuelans weary of economic hardship and social decay.

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader and pro-democracy activist Maria Corina Machado, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday.

Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said Machado was recognised “for her relentless efforts to promote democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and her struggle for a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

Frydnes praised Machado as a “unifying voice in a once-divided opposition” who has shown exceptional courage while facing threats in an increasingly repressive political climate.

The committee described her as “one of the most remarkable examples of civilian bravery in modern Latin America.”

Despite living under constant threats, Machado has refused to leave Venezuela a decision that, according to the committee, has “inspired millions striving for freedom and justice.”

Meanwhile, reports noted that US President Donald Trump, who has previously expressed his desire to win the Peace Prize, was not considered a viable contender this year.

Experts in Oslo emphasized that his “America First” approach contradicts the principles outlined in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will, which established the award.

Last year’s Nobel Peace Prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots movement representing atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Nobel Peace Prize includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a cash award of $1.2 million.

The award will be presented at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of the prizes’ creator, Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel.

The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo, with the other disciplines announced in Stockholm.

On Thursday, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Laszlo Krasznahorkai, considered by many as Hungary’s most important living author, whose works explore themes of postmodern dystopia and melancholy.

The 2025 Nobel season winds up Monday with the economics prize.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights in her country and her struggle to achieve a transition to democracy, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,” it said in its citation.

The committee chose to focus on Venezuela at this time, in a year dominated by US President Donald Trump’s repeated public statements that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump drew significant attention after receiving endorsements from Pakistan, Israel, Cambodia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

Ahead of the announcement, experts on the award had said Trump would not win it as he is dismantling the international world order the Nobel committee cherishes.

The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.