Notably, Maria Corina Machado is a staunch supporter of Israel and maintains close ties to its ruling Likud Party.
Venezuelan opposition figure, Maria Corina Machado, has been named by the Norwegian Nobel Committee as the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2025, a title which US President Donald Trump had hoped to receive after being nominated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The 58-year-old’s victory was announced in Oslo this Friday, with a statement by the prize’s committee stating that the award was presented to Machado “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”.
The Venezuelan opposition leader, who was barred from running in the last round of elections over allegations of alleged corruption and support for US sanctions on the country, is, however, not an advocate of “peaceful transition”. Instead, she has openly advocated for regime change to be thrust upon her country by the foreign powers.
A Nobel Peace Prize for María Corina Machado? You mean the same far-right figure who cheered a coup, begged Netanyahu for “help,” and backed sanctions starving her own people?
If this is “peace,” then the word has lost all meaning.
Let’s honor the real peacemakers Palestinian… pic.twitter.com/EBjibuIh0R— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) October 10, 2025
Machado is also a supporter of US sanctions against Venezuela, while her policy platform is of the far-right persuasion and advocates for the total privatization of State assets, most notably the country’s oil resources.
While US President Donald Trump had eyed the Nobel Peace Prize, suggesting he should win it over what he claims is a historic achievement of ending eight wars, much of the pushback against the American leader came due to his right-wing policies and aggressive foreign policy, which included attacking Iran. In addition to this, the United States has now mobilized its navy and is threatening military intervention to unseat the current government in Caracas.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Machado, is an ally of the Trump movement and has shared platforms with hardline right-wing groups, including neo-Nazis.
Notably, Machado is a staunch supporter of Israel and maintains close ties to its ruling Likud Party. Back in 2018, she even wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling upon him and others to wage a regime change operation to overthrow the socialist government of Nicolas Maduro. The following is an excerpt from that letter:
“It should be noted that it is not only our population that is suffering the widespread and systematic attack of the current regime. Its criminal nature, closely linked to drug trafficking and terrorism, represents a real threat to other countries, including, and especially, Israel. The current regime, which holds the powers of government hostage in Venezuela, exhibits its close collaboration with Iran and extremist groups, which, as we all know, pose an existential threat to Israel.”
Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado begged Bejamin Netanyahu for an Israeli military intervention in Venezuela to depose the elected socialist government pic.twitter.com/tDN7XTJYwZ
— Ragged Trousered Philanderer (@RaggedTP) October 10, 2025
Maria Corina Machado has also appeared on Israeli television to advocate for the re-establishment of ties between Venezuela and Israel, even vowing that under her leadership, the Venezuelan Embassy would be moved to occupied Jerusalem. She also put out a video thanking former US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaido, for recognizing Israel’s Capital as occupied Jerusalem.
In 2020, Machado signed a cooperation agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party on “political, ideological and social issues, as well as advancing on issues related to strategy, geopolitics and security”.
Earlier this year, Machado participated alongside her Likud Party allies in the ultra-nationalist “Patriots for Europe” summit, where both sold themselves as frontline warriors in the battle for “Western civilization”.
One of the most prominent slogans at this right-wing conference was “Reconquista”, referencing European military efforts to expel Islamic influence, which included the mass forced conversion of Muslims and Jews to Christianity, amidst the slaughter and displacement of civilians to achieve this goal.
Can you read Spanish? If so, tell me what the new Nobel peace prize winner Maria Corina Machado was requesting from Benjamin Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/yl8J22rxIb
— Margaret Kimberley (@freedomrideblog) October 10, 2025
Understanding that Machado is an ardent supporter of Israel’s genocide and stands with it in its implementation of Apartheid policies, there has been an enormous backlash online against the Norwegian Nobel Committee, with some going as far as advocating for the abolishment of the peace prize altogether.
The Nobel Prize appears to be suffering a legitimacy problem in the wake of this backlash, as many question how a peace prize could be presented to a supporter of regime change, economic sanctions and ally herself with a regime that is committing genocide.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
the nobel committee has just cut its own throat… with such a poor choice for the Peace Prize, nobel has NO credibility left!… The Peace Prize should have been awarded to the Palestinians of Gaza as a People walking to Freedom!
Maduro should either deport her to Israel or put her under protective custody until a trial date for conspiring against the Venezuelan people on behalf of a foreign power.