The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has sparked jubilation among exiled Venezuelans and renewed momentum for the country’s pro-democracy movement, even as it further isolates President Nicolás Maduro’s government on the global stage.
Machado, a long-time critic of Maduro who was barred from running in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, was honored for her commitment to peaceful resistance and democratic change.
She has been in hiding since last year, after authorities intensified a crackdown on opposition figures following disputed election results widely believed to have been won by exiled opposition candidate Edmundo González.
In Colombia, home to nearly three million Venezuelan migrants, the announcement triggered emotional celebrations. Mariluz Palma, head of Machado’s Vente Venezuela movement in Colombia, said she burst into tears upon hearing the news.
“It filled me with strength to keep calling on all Venezuelans to fight for our freedom,” she told Reuters, adding that supporters would gather in Bogotá on Sunday to celebrate.
“María Corina deserves this prize because she risked her life, her business, her family, everything, for millions of Venezuelans,” Palma said.
For many Venezuelans in exile, the award serves as global validation of their struggle. “It feels like a vindication of our fight for democracy and change,” said Alejandro Méndez, another member of the diaspora in Colombia.
Political analysts say the Nobel recognition solidifies Machado’s status as the de facto leader of Venezuela’s opposition, despite her lack of formal office.
“She’s sort of the president in exile, despite not being one and despite not being abroad,” said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, a Venezuela expert at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Lansberg-Rodriguez added that the award will not only cement Machado’s global legitimacy but also deepen Maduro’s international isolation and expose internal fractures within his government.
“The Venezuelan government is more rattled than I’ve ever seen it,” he said, pointing to recent U.S. military actions against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean as a sign of rising pressure.
The Maduro government has not yet commented on the Nobel announcement.
Experts believe the award could reawaken hope among Venezuelans at home, many of whom have been demoralized by years of repression and censorship.
“In a country with little free media but strong social networks, this news will spread widely and deeply,” Lansberg-Rodriguez said.
Christopher Sabatini, senior research fellow for Latin America at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, said the Nobel Prize may inspire new energy within Venezuela’s civil society.
“This is a much-needed recognition of the situation in Venezuela,” he said. “The key question now is how Maduro, and the international community, will respond.”
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
