What we covered here
• The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to María Corina Machado for “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.” Machado is a leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela.
• Machado went into hiding after the Venezuelan government moved to crush dissent following last year’s election. The Nobel Committee chair said he is not sure whether Machado will be able to attend the prize ceremony in Norway in December.
• US President Donald Trump made no secret of his desire for a Nobel Peace Prize. But it was unlikely he would be awarded this year’s accolade because of the nomination process. Nobel Prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine and literature were also awarded this week.
Our live coverage of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has ended. Read our full report here or read the posts below as the announcement happened.
Machado became the “public face of the rejection of the Maduro government,” analyst says
Christopher Sabatini, an expert on Latin American politics at the Chatham House think tank in London, said María Corina Machado’s award will bring “renewed attention to the struggles of the Venezuelan people.”
The prize also comes at a time of rising antagonism between the United States and Venezuela. The US has deployed at least seven warships to the southern Caribbean, and it has announced a $50 million reward for information leading the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been facing formal drug trafficking charges from the Justice Department since 2020.
The US military has also carried out lethal strikes on boats operating in the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela, which officials have deemed to be “narco-trafficking” vessels.
The military force amassed near Venezuela “is there more to rattle the military and inner circle (than) to remove Maduro,” Sabatini added.
Machado responds to win: "This is the biggest recognition to our people that certainly deserve it”
María Corina Machado, the recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, was rendered speechless when the news was given to her over the phone.
Kristian Berg Harpviken, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, made the call to the Venezuelan opposition leader just moments before the announcement was made globally.
In a recording of the conversation shared by the Nobel Prize on X, Machado sounds emotional and disbelieving of the voice at the other end of the line. “Oh my god,” she can be heard repeating. “I have no words,” she added.
Once Machado gathered her thoughts, she expressed gratitude before emphasizing that the win is one for her movement, rather than her alone.
“I hope you understand this is a movement, this is the achievement of a whole society. I am just one person. I certainly do not deserve this,” Machado said.
Harpviken was quick to confirm that he felt both she and the movement deserved the award, before he read an excerpt from the speech that was read during the announcement. Responding to the praise, Machado said: “I’m honored…and very grateful.”
Speaking of the ongoing campaign for a free and fair system in Venezuela she said: “We’re not there yet. We’re working very hard to achieve it but I’m sure that we will prevail and this is certainly the biggest recognition to our people that certainly deserve it.”
White House says Trump snub proves Nobel Committee “place politics over peace”
A White House spokesperson said the Nobel Committee’s decision to overlook the peacemaking efforts of US President Donald Trump shows “they place politics over peace.”
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives. He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, wrote on X.
Trump has repeatedly said that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for ending “unsolvable” wars.
Although Trump scored a major diplomatic victory this week in announcing the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, this likely came too late for consideration by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Nominations for this year’s prize closed on January 31, when Trump had only been in office for 11 days.
Machado a "beacon of light" in push for peace, expert says
An analyst has praised the efforts of Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, saying that the new laureate received the award because she is a worthy example of how to conduct a fight for freedom.
Alex Alfirraz Scheers, from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, told CNN’s Brian Abel that Machado has “demonstrated what it takes to actually try and push the dials for peace.”
Machado was awarded the coveted prize from a place of hiding after her opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government resulted in threats to her life.
Scheers said the compromises she has made to remain committed to her battle for a free and fair vote are admirable.
“She has shown that if you want to push for peace you have to make sacrifices,” Scheers said, adding: “You have to be selfless yourself, and you have to focus on altruism in the face of all the adversity that comes with that.”
The analyst added that the Venezuelan people have become familiar with “tyranny” at Maduro’s hands, but described Machado as “a beacon of light” amid this uncertainty.
Nobel Committee chose to highlight democracy as a “priority area,” analyst says
In selecting María Corina Machado as this year’s peace prize laureate, the Nobel Committee signaled its concerns about the health of democracy worldwide, says Karim Haggag, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
He added that SIPRI, which monitors the spread of conflicts and armaments around the world, “believes these values are critical for global peace and security.”
Analysts say that the Nobel Committee often uses the prize to send a message about its areas of concern. Last year, the peace prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots Japanese organization of atomic bomb survivors, at a time when the world was once again confronting the specter of nuclear weapons, amid Russian threats over its war in Ukraine.
A disputed result and a brutal crackdown: Venezuela’s 2024 election
Nicolás Maduro has been president of Venezuela since 2013, when he succeeded Hugo Chávez.
Following an election in July 2024, both Maduro and his political opponent Edmundo González Urrutia claimed victory.
The government-aligned National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE) said Maduro had won more 51.95% of the votes, while his opponent won 43.18%. But those results were immediately met with allegations of foul play.
María Corina Machado said she could prove that Maduro didn’t win.
In August that year, the United States also concurred that Maduro had lost the popular vote.
When protests broke out across Venezuela, the Maduro regime cracked down on dissent, driving opposition leaders such as Machado into hiding.
Human Rights Watch, a monitoring group, said in a report this year that government forces have committed “widespread abuses” since the disputed election.
“The Venezuelan government has killed, tortured, detained, and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change and many others have fled the country,” it said.
Machado has "taken on the fight facing Maduro," despite personal threats
María Corina Machado is a veteran diplomat who has worked tirelessly on the sidelines for decades to encourage democratic development in Venezuela, CNN’s Isa Soares said.
The opposition leader’s dedicated fight for a secure democracy in her nation has consistently rattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Machado has faced a barrage of threats to her life that have forced her into hiding.
She has “taken on the fight facing Maduro,” despite endless compromises to her safety, Soares said after Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
Soares commended Machado as a deserving recipient of the prestigious accolade, adding that this is “a fight she has been fighting and enduring for so long.”
But Machado has previously expressed that her purpose is greater than herself. In a conversation with Soares in early 2025, the peace laureate said: “I am quite conscious of my responsibilities, but also we know that this is a cost that transcends every single one of us. We need to do this.”
Machado's prize reminds us that democracy is a "precondition to peace," analyst says
Nina Græger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), said that María Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize is “above all, a prize for democracy.”
She praised Machado’s “courageous commitment to free and fair elections and accountable governance in Venezuela reflects the belief that lasting peace is built on the foundations of democracy.”
Announcing the award, the Nobel Committee said Machado’s role as a “unifying figure” in Venezuela’s opposition movement “is precisely what lies at the heart of democracy: our shared willingness to defend the principles of popular rule, even though we disagree.”
Machado satisfied all three criteria in Alfred Nobel’s will, committee says
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year to the individual who has done the most to meet the terms set out in the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist whose fortune established the Nobel Prizes.
The will says the award will be given to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.”
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said María Corina Machado had satisfied all three criteria.
With Machado in hiding, it is "too early to say" whether she can attend award ceremony
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said he is not sure whether María Corina Machado will be able to attend the peace prize ceremony in Norway in December.
Machado went into hiding after the Venezuelan regime moved to crush dissent following last year’s election.
WATCH: Machado speaks to CNN last year while in hiding in Venezuela
Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour while in hiding after Venezuela’s election last year, María Corina Machado said she was committed to achieving a peaceful democratic transition for her country.
Watch her interview here:
Who is María Corina Machado?
María Corina Machado is a leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, which has campaigned for free elections and representative government.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, in 1967, Machado trained as an industrial engineer before entering politics. In 2002, she founded Súmate, a volunteer group that promotes political rights and monitors elections.
Freedom House, a monitoring group, says Venezuela’s democratic institutions have deteriorated since 1999, “but conditions have grown sharply worse in recent years” due to the harsh crackdown by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
Machado was the opposition’s presidential candidate in the 2024 election, but Maduro’s regime blocked her from running. She then switched her support to the party of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
The Nobel committee praised Machado for corralling a group that helped make sure the final tallies of the election “were documented before the regime could destroy ballots and lie about the outcome.”
Machado praised for helping to achieve "just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy"
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said María Corina Machado had helped “keep the flame of democracy burning against a growing darkness.”
Announcing the award at a ceremony in Oslo on Friday, the committee praised Machado’s “struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Nobel Peace Prize goes to María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to María Corina Machado for “promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”
SOON: An announcement is expected imminently
A grand room in the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo is filling up. The committee will announce its decision within minutes.
Has the past year been a good one for peace?
In short, no, says Karim Haggag, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a research group that monitors the spread of conflicts and armaments.
In its annual report, SIPRI stated plainly that global security “continued to deteriorate” last year, while military spending rose for the 10th successive year, exceeding $2.7 trillion in 2024.
The report noted that none of the world’s “three great powers” are committed to defending the world order.
Surveying the past year, Hagagg said: “There’s been much less emphasis on peace-making, and much more emphasis on war-making.”
Potential laureates? The International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice
The International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) have received unprecedented public attention for their attempts to prosecute alleged war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza.
The ICC prosecutes individuals, while the ICJ prosecutes states. While the ICJ was established in 1945, as part of the human rights architecture built after World War II, the ICC is a younger organization, founded in 2002. Both are based in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The ICC made headlines in March 2023 when it issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and another Russian official for an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children.
In November 2024, it also issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Warrants were also issued for three senior Hamas leaders, all of whom were since killed by Israel.
In February, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the ICC, accusing it of abusing its power by “issuing baseless arrest warrants” for Netanyahu and Gallant.
The ICJ has also shot to global prominence over hearing a case of genocide brought against Israel by South Africa. Although the court is yet to make a final ruling, it issued “provisional measures” in early 2024 ordering Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza.
The ICJ is also considering a genocide case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar, over its treatment of Rohingya Muslims.
Nina Græger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), told CNN the two courts would be worthy laureates for helping to “maintain international law and international norms.”
The Nobel Committee is almost ready
Today is the biggest event in the year for the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Here, the committee’s chair is getting ready to announce the prize.
A potential laureate? Committee to Protect Journalists
Each year, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) gives a list of five worthy potential laureates, spanning an array of peacebuilding areas, from international law and democracy to specific regions and environmental groups.
Nina Græger, director of PRIO, said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is a strong contender for the 2025 prize. The CPJ promotes press freedom by defending the right of journalists to report safely and without fear of reprisal.
“Never before have so many journalists been killed in a single year. A record 124 journalists and media workers were killed in 2024 alone, with nearly 70% of those deaths in the Israel Gaza war,” Græger said.
Among the journalists killed in Gaza have been several staff from the news network Al Jazeera. In August, Israeli forces killed Anas Al-Sharif – a 28-year-old Al Jazeera reporter who became the face of the war in Gaza for millions of people – and four of his colleagues in a strike on Gaza City.
Last month, United Nations said at least 248 journalists have been killed in Gaza, “more than in any other conflict in modern times.”
Græger told CNN that, “at a time when the free press is under historic assault… it would send a strong signal of the importance to peace and democracy of the freedom of the press.”
She stressed that Israel does not allow international journalists to report freely in Gaza, and that journalists have also been unable to access large parts of Sudan, where civil war has raged since 2023.
