Why Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Corina Machado Is Facing Criticism

A controversy has surfaced after Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2025. Critics pointed out that she supported Israel and its bombing of Gaza and that she had also called for foreign intervention to overthrow the government in her country.

Machado is a key figure in Venezuela's pro-democracy movement who has emerged as a powerful symbol of civilian courage in recent years. The Nobel Prize Committee announced her as the Peace Laureate yesterday for her work in promoting democracy and fighting dictatorship in Venezuela.

Within hours, the announcement drew criticism from the White House for "placing politics over peace" after a failed campaign to portray President Donald Trump as a global peacemaker who stopped half a dozen conflicts around the world.

Machado later dedicated her Nobel to Trump, and the US President said he was happy for her.

Why Machado Got Nobel

The Nobel Prize Committee hailed Machado as a "champion of peace" who has kept the flame of democracy burning in Venezuela amid growing darkness. Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the committee's chair, called her a "key, unifying figure in a political opposition" in Venezuela that was once divided.

The Peace laureate has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace, the Committee said, praising Machado for embodying the hope of a different future, one where the fundamental rights of citizens are protected, and their voices are heard.

"In the past year, 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. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist," Frydnes said in his announcement.

Criticism Against Machado

Critics are sharing Machado's older posts expressing support for Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, to target her for supporting the "genocide" in Gaza.

While she had shown solidarity with Israel after the October 7, 2023, surprise Hamas attack, she never discreetly voiced her support for the killing of Palestinians.

But her posts over the years confirm she is an ally of Netanyahu. Among those being flagged by her critics is where she had said, "The struggle of Venezuela is the struggle of Israel." Two years later, she had called Israel a "genuine ally of freedom." Machado had even promised to move the Venezuelan embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv if she came to power.

Bjornar Moxnes, a Norwegian lawmaker, pointed out that Machado had signed a cooperation document with Israel's Likud party in 2020. The Likud party is responsible for the "Gaza genocide" and therefore the award is not in line with Nobel's purpose, he said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a US-based Muslim civil rights organisation, slammed the "unconscionable decision" to bestow the top honour on her. The Nobel Committee should reconsider its decision since it undermines its reputation, the organisation said in a long online post.

"The Nobel Peace Prize committee should instead recognize an honoree who has shown moral consistency by bravely pursuing justice for all people, such as one of the students, journalists, activists, medical professionals who have risked their careers and even their lives to oppose the crime of our time: the genocide in Gaza," it said.

Calls For Foreign Intervention

Machado is also facing backlash for calling for foreign intervention in her campaign against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. In 2018, she had written a letter seeking support from Israel and Argentina for regime change in her country.

She had shared a copy of the letter online, saying, "Today, I am sending a letter to @mauriciomacri, President of Argentina, and to @netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, to ask them to apply their strength and influence to advance in the dismantling of the criminal Venezuelan regime, intimately linked to drug trafficking and terrorism."