Amid global applause for María Corina Machado’s 2025 Nobel Peace Prize win, awarded for her peaceful fight to restore democracy in Venezuela, the recognition has also drawn sharp criticism from several quarters.
Some political opponents and left-leaning commentators accuse Machado of being aligned with conservative European groups and too closely tied to right-wing interests in the United States.
Critics argue that her support for international sanctions against the Venezuelan government contradicts the spirit of a peace prize, as sanctions can also deepen humanitarian suffering.
While many Venezuelans and global supporters celebrated the honour, others pointed out that the award would not immediately change the harsh realities faced by Venezuelan migrants still at risk of deportation in the US.
The controversy escalated further when the US-based Muslim civil rights organisation CAIR condemned the decision, urging the Nobel Committee to reconsider and retract the award.
Venezuela’s ruling party lawmakers have denounced María Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize win, calling it “shameful” and accusing her of fueling political unrest while aligning with foreign interests.
They argue that the award rewards someone they believe has contributed to instability rather than peace.
Adding to the backlash, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a strong statement condemning the Nobel Committee’s decision.
The group criticised Machado for her alleged support of Israel’s Likud party and her associations with far-right groups in Europe, calling the award “unconscionable” and contrary to the values the Peace Prize is meant to uphold.
“Ms Machado is a vocal supporter of Israel’s racist Likud Party and earlier this year she delivered remarks at a conference of European fascists, including Geert Wilders and Marie Le Pen, which openly called for a new Reconquista, referencing the ethnic cleansing of Spanish Muslims and Jews in the 1500s,” CAIR said in a statement.
The strongest criticism of the Nobel Committee’s decision came from Pablo Iglesias, former leader of Podemos and former Vice President of the Spanish government.
“The truth is that to give the Nobel Peace Prize to Corina Machado, who has been trying to stage a coup d’état in her country for years, they could have given it directly to Trump or even posthumously to Adolf Hitler. Next year, let Putin and Zelensky share it. If it’s already over…”, Iglesias criticised on his profile on the social network X.
Venezuelan lawmaker Willian Rodriguez criticized the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado, calling out her leadership of the country’s far-right opposition.
“The fact that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Machado is outrageous and shameful,” Rodriguez, a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly and vice president of the Podemos party, told TASS.