Nobel Peace Prize 2025 winner Maria Corina Machado, who is also a Venezuelan Opposition leader, will not attend the official award ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday, head of the Nobel Institute Kristian Berg Harpviken has confirmed.
Machado’s daughter will accept the prize on her behalf, Harpviken added.
“Her daughter will give the speech that Maria Corina herself wrote,” he said.
Who is Maria Corina Machado?
Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October, for her efforts to bring democracy to Venezuela, has been a vocal opposition leader in the country. She has challenged the tenure of President Nicolas Maduro, who has been president since 2013.
She had trained as an industrial engineer before entering politics, founding the NGO Súmate in 2002 to monitor elections and promote democratic accountability.
Currently, Machado leads the Vente Venezuela party, has won opposition primaries in 2023 with over 90% support, and has garnered international honours like BBC’s 100 Women and Time’s 100 Most Influential.
Why is she skipping the prize ceremony?
Machado went into hiding after disputed general elections in Venezuela in 2024. She had denounced ‘fraud’ and since then, her whereabouts have remained unknown. Maduro’s regime has accused her of crimes including treason.
Harpviken in a recent press event said he still does not know where Machado is and hence will not receive the honour in person.
Machado had dedicated Nobel Peace Prize to Trump
Machado had expressed her appreciation for US President Donald Trump after she won the prize, publicly dedicating the honour to him.
“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause,” Machado had said, crediting Trump’s policies like doubling bounties on Maduro allies and military actions against drug trafficking networks linked to the Venezuelan government, according to CNN.
Trump had long coveted the Nobel Peace Prize and frequently claimed he deserved it for deals like the Abraham Accords and repeatedly questioning why he hasn’t won despite “saving millions of lives.”