Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado dedicates peace prize to President Trump - Faith & Freedom News

María Corina Machado Wins Nobel Peace Prize

María Corina Machado Nobel Peace Prize 2025

María Corina Machado, 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has dedicated the award to the Venezuelan people and President Donald Trump

                “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”
                — María Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2025

Historic Award Recognition

OSLO — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her tireless work fighting dictatorship in Venezuela and promoting democratic rights. In a stunning moment, the 58-year-old industrial engineer, who lives in hiding, dedicated the award in part to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly insisted he deserved such recognition.

Machado was blocked in 2024 by Venezuela’s courts from running for president and thus challenging President Nicolás Maduro, who has been in power since 2013. Despite this obstruction, she led a grassroots opposition movement that defeated Maduro by a landslide in the country’s 2024 elections—though the dictator illegitimately claimed victory and now rules the country by force.

Trump’s Decisive Role in Venezuela’s Democratic Struggle

“We, the Venezuelan people, are absolutely grateful to President Trump for the way he has supported democracy and freedom in the Americas,” Machado told The Post in an exclusive interview. “I dedicated this award to the Venezuelan people and President Trump because I believe that’s absolutely fair.”

Speaking from an undisclosed location, Machado—who has been in hiding since the election was stolen—said Trump’s “courage and clarity” have been instrumental in isolating and weakening what she described as Maduro’s “narco-terrorist criminal enterprise” running her country.

Trump Administration’s Aggressive Action

Trump has been ramping up the pressure on Maduro’s regime since coming into office, implementing a comprehensive strategy that includes:

Key Trump Administration Actions:

Sending warships to target the dictator’s drug mules in South America
Cutting off Biden-era sanctions waivers that kept money from oil sales flowing into the dictator’s pockets
Raising the bounty for Maduro’s arrest to $50 million—the largest bounty sum in US history
Treating the regime as a criminal network tied to drug cartels and terrorist groups

“From the very beginning, President Trump understood this wasn’t a conventional dictatorship,” Machado said. “He treated it as what it is—a criminal network tied to drug cartels, terrorist groups, and foreign regimes that threaten both the Venezuelan people and the security of the United States.”

The Reality Under Maduro’s Regime

Machado painted a grim picture of life under Maduro’s rule:

📚 Schools open only two days a week
🏥 Hospitals without medicine
💰 Pensions worth less than a dollar a month
📊 Nearly 90% of the population living in poverty
⚖️ Systematic torture, killings, and imprisonment of dissidents

“This regime has destroyed everything. They torture, they kill, they imprison family members just because someone posts about inflation online.”

Global Celebration of Democracy

The Nobel Peace Prize announcement sparked celebrations worldwide, with particularly powerful demonstrations of support for both Machado and President Trump’s role in the democratic struggle.

In Israel, an extraordinary scene unfolded at Hostages Square, where 400,000 people gathered, chanting “Thank You Trump! Thank You Trump!” in recognition of his administration’s efforts to promote peace and democracy globally.

Ellie Cohanim, sharing the moment on social media, captured the historic gathering that demonstrated the widespread international appreciation for Trump’s foreign policy initiatives.

A Nation United in Hope

Despite the brutal repression, Machado said Venezuelans are more united than ever—and ready to come home from mass migrations abroad if Maduro is removed from power.

“We are living through a spiritual fight—between good and evil,” she said. “Ninety percent of our people, including the military, want the same thing: freedom, dignity, and our children back home.”

Machado confirmed she had spoken with President Trump earlier in the day. “I was looking forward to thanking him directly,” she said. “He’s determined to dismantle the narco-terrorist structure that’s done so much harm to both our peoples.”

The Road Ahead

Machado said she hoped the attention garnered from securing the prize helps shine a needed light on Venezuela’s plight—and help build support for more international pressure on the regime, of which the Trump administration has been at the forefront.

Machado credited Trump with taking on the criminal networks funding Maduro’s regime—from drug trafficking and gold smuggling to the black market in oil.

“For years we begged the international community to see this as a law enforcement issue,” she said. “President Trump was the first to act. He called them what they are—narco-terrorist organizations—and used the full weight of the law to cut their money flow.”

“We count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve freedom and democracy,” Machado concluded.