The fact that Reuters wrote the headline “Venezuela’s opposition leader Machado wins Nobel Peace Prize, White House critical” for their article is nauseating. Why? Here’s the part that is appalling and unprecedented:
HuffPost had several stories about this:
Machado, in stark contrast to Trump’s spokespeople, praised Trump and even dedicated it in part to him (my highlight):
Clicking on each tweet above will take you to X where you can read the replies.
These tweets show that Machado is cognizant of Trump’s desire, his near clincial obsession, with winning the coveted prize and her own awareness as a politician that praising him as effusively as possible is in the best interest of her country. She knows that Trump would love to be as entrenched in hios own dictatorship as Maduro is.
I doubt any country ever issued a protest against someone winning a Nobel Peace Prize because their leader didn’t win?
The Nobel Peace Prize wasn’t awarded to Donald Trump and he’s pissed off. To say he lusted after this is an understatement. He might have considered trading his left testicle for the prize. As a man with monorchism he might not even miss it.
As for the MAGA reaction, we are seeing articles like this from RawStory:
Machado won the prize earned it because she fought against Nicolás Maduro.
“(Maudro) is widely regarded as a dictator due to his authoritarian rule, electoral fraud, and severe human rights abuses in Venezuela. His government has faced significant international condemnation and accusations of undermining democracy since he took office in 2013. From AI generated description.
Bizarro World, indeed. Trump can fairly be described as as a dictator due to his authoritarian rule, electoral fraud, and severe human rights abuses in the United States, and also around the world due to his cuts to life saving aid.
(Scroll down to read the Nobel press release)
Below is the English Press Release in it’s entirety. I suggest reading it and considering how it could be written if it was about why it was awarded to Donald Trump.
Press release
Announcement, Nobel Peace Prize 2025
10 October 2025
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace – to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 to Maria Corina Machado.
She is receiving the Nobel Peace 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.
As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.
Ms Machado has been a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government. This is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree. At a time when democracy is under threat, it is more important than ever to defend this common ground.
Venezuela has evolved from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to a brutal, authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis. Most Venezuelans live in deep poverty, even as the few at the top enrich themselves. The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country’s own citizens. Nearly 8 million people have left the country. The opposition has been systematically suppressed by means of election rigging, legal prosecution and imprisonment.
Venezuela’s authoritarian regime makes political work extremely difficult. As a founder of Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, Ms Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago. As she said: “It was a choice of ballots over bullets.” In political office and in her service to organisations since then, Ms Machado has spoken out for judicial independence, human rights and popular representation. She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
Ahead of the election of 2024, Ms Machado was the opposition’s presidential candidate, but the regime blocked her candidacy. She then backed the representative of a different party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in the election. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilised across political divides. They were trained as election observers to ensure a transparent and fair election. Despite the risk of harassment, arrest and torture, citizens across the country held watch over the polling stations. They made sure the final tallies were documented before the regime could destroy ballots and lie about the outcome.
The efforts of the collective opposition, both before and during the election, were innovative and brave, peaceful and democratic. The opposition received international support when its leaders publicised the vote counts that had been collected from the country’s election districts, showing that the opposition had won by a clear margin. But the regime refused to accept the election result, and clung to power.
Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace. However, we live in a world where democracy is in retreat, where more and more authoritarian regimes are challenging norms and resorting to violence. The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair.
In its long history, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has honoured brave women and men who have stood up to repression, who have carried the hope of freedom in prison cells, on the streets and in public squares, and who have shown by their actions that peaceful resistance can change the world. 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 of people.
When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist. Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended – with words, with courage and with determination.
Maria Corina Machado meets all three criteria stated in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Peace Prize laureate. She has brought her country’s opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy.
Maria Corina Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace. She embodies the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard. In this future, people will finally be free to live in peace.
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