Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was on Friday awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for fighting dictatorship in her country. Machado, 58, becomes the first Venezuelan and the sixth person from Latin America to win the prestigious award.
Moments before her name was announced, Machado received the news through a phone call from Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
READ: 'We will prevail': Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Corina Machado
Her reaction was one of shock, and she also seemed to tear up a bit during the phone call.
'I Don't Deserve The Nobel Prize'
The Nobel Committee posted a recording of the emotional phone call on social media.
"Oh my God ... I have no words," Machado told Harpviken. "I thank you so much, but I hope you understand this is a movement; this is an achievement of a whole society. I am just one person. I certainly do not deserve it," she added.
“Oh my god… I have no words.”
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 10, 2025
Listen to the emotional moment this year's laureate Maria Corina Machado finds out she has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Kristian Berg Harpviken, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, shared the news with her directly before it was… pic.twitter.com/OCUpNz752k
Harpviken apologised for waking her up in the middle of the night to share the news and requested she keep the information private until the official announcement. "After that (the announcement), you are more than welcome to tell anyone you would like (about winning the prize)," Harpviken said.
"I think it will take me a lot longer to believe what I just heard," Machado replied.
She added that the prize was a recognition of the Venezuelan people.
About Maria Machado
An industrial engineer by education, Machado is a prominent political opponent of the authoritarian Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela.
READ: "Have Always Counted On You": When Nobel Peace Prize Winner Praised Trump
She was blocked in 2024 by the country's courts from running for president and thus challenging President Maduro, who has been in power since 2013.
Shortly after the presidential election, Machado announced she had gone into hiding, citing fears for her life.
It was not immediately clear whether she would be able to attend the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Oslo on December 10.
Should she not attend, she would join the list of Peace Prize laureates prevented from doing so in the award's 124-year history, including Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov in 1975, Poland's Lech Walesa in 1983, and Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991, Reuters reported.
White House Reacts Sharply To Machado's Win
The White House on Friday reacted sharply to Machado winning the Nobel Peace Prize - an accolade that US President Donald Trump had wanted for himself.
READ: 'Placing Politics Over Peace': White House After Trump Misses Out On Nobel
The lead-up to this year's award was dominated by Trump's repeated public statements that he deserved to win the award.
In a post, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said, "President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives... The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace."
The US president is yet to react to missing out on the award.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
