Trending 
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to both the people of Venezuela and US President Donald Trump, praising his “decisive support” for her country’s pro-democracy movement.
Posting on X, Machado wrote: “I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”
She added that the nation stands “on the threshold of victory” and emphasised reliance on Trump, the United States, Latin American nations, and the global democratic community to secure freedom and democracy in Venezuela.
Machado has been in hiding for the past year following elections that President Nicolas Maduro, accused of fraud, claimed to have won.
Barred from contesting the vote, she instead campaigned for her stand-in, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, widely recognised internationally as the legitimate winner.
The Nobel Committee commended Machado for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Machado has endorsed Trump’s military pressure on Maduro, including a major US naval deployment near Venezuelan waters, describing it as a necessary step toward a democratic transition.
The White House amplified Machado’s tribute via Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, while other opposition figures, including two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, congratulated her, expressing hope that the award would bolster Venezuela’s efforts to reclaim freedom and peace.
