The Case · Venezuela

The Laureate Points at Him

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner dedicated her prize to two parties: her people — and Donald Trump.

When Oslo gave the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the world’s most credentialed new voice on peace got a microphone. Her first act: she dedicated the prize to the suffering people of Venezuela — and to President Trump, by name, for his decisive support of their cause.

Sit with that. The Nobel committee’s own laureate, on the day of her greatest honor, pointed at the man the committee passed over. The pressure campaign he led against the Maduro dictatorship — sanctions, isolation, unmistakable resolve — is precisely what Venezuela’s democrats credit with keeping their cause alive.

This site’s view: when the reigning Peace Prize laureate publicly hands her own laurels to someone, the committee’s next decision writes itself. 2026 is the year Oslo either listens to its own laureate — or explains why not.