Earlier today, the Norwegian Nobel Institute held a ceremony in Oslo to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Machado has been in hiding since July 2024, after authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in fraudulent presidential elections. She is widely considered the figure keeping the opposition alive against Maduro’s violent regime.
Machado was unable to attend the event in person, with the Institute describing the “extreme danger” of smuggling her out of Venezuela. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, delivered the speech on her behalf.
In the speech, Ana made an announcement: Her mother had made it out of the country after all—and would be arriving in Oslo within hours. Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, a move that comes after weeks of intensified pressure from Washington on Maduro’s regime.
It’s a dramatic moment in the ongoing struggle over Venezuela’s future. Today, we’re honored to bring you Machado’s speech in full, beginning with an introduction from Ana. —The Editors
Good afternoon,
First, I want to express our infinite gratitude—from my family and from an entire country—to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Thanks to you, the struggle of an entire people for truth, freedom, democracy, and peace is today recognized around the world.
