Oslo: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who accepted the accolade in hiding in the country described by the Nobel jury as a "brutal" state.
Machado, the democracy activist who challenged President Nicolas Maduro in last year's elections, has become a "unifying" figure in Venezuela, the jury said. She has refused to leave despite threats against her life.
She dedicated her award to the Venezuelan people and to US President Donald Trump, who had coveted it himself, as Washington steps up its pressure on Maduro's government.
"More than ever we count on President Trump", she wrote on X, citing his "decisive support of our cause".
The 58-year-old told Nobel Institute director Kristian Berg Harpvikenshe she was confident the opposition would secure a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela.
"I'm sure that we will prevail", she said in the call, which was filmed and posted to X.
Machado, in hiding for the past year, is "one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times", said Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes.
"Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions".
Rumours have circulated on social networks that she is sheltering at the US embassy.
Venezuelan opposition figurehead Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who lives in exile in Spain, hailed her win as "a well-deserved recognition of the long struggle of a woman and an entire people for freedom and democracy".
Machado was the opposition's presidential candidate for Venezuela's 2024 elections, but Maduro's government blocked her candidacy.
Maduro claimed electoral victory, but the European Union and numerous countries have recognised Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela's president-elect.
An engineer by training, Caracas-born Machado entered politics in 2002 at the head of the association Sumate (Join us), pushing for a referendum to recall Maduro's mentor, the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.
The call led to treason accusations and death threats, prompting her to send her three children to live abroad.
The committee said it was aware Machado might not be able to attend the Oslo ceremony on December 10.
The White House had earlier criticised the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to focus on Venezuela just days after Trump announced a breakthrough in talks to halt the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
"President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars and saving lives... The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace", White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a post on X. — Reuters
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