SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
This year's Nobel Peace Prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. In its announcement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee called her a, quote, "brave and committed champion of peace." Machado has been in hiding in Venezuela since her opposition party lost in 2024 to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in what was widely denounced as a rigged election. Machado is a close ally of President Trump, who had been lobbying publicly for the prize for himself. For more, let's go to NPR South America correspondent Carrie Kahn. Hey, Carrie.
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Hi.
DETROW: So what did the Nobel Committee say in announcing her as the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner?
KAHN: The committee called her, quote, "a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness." The committee director posted his call with Maria Corina Machado early this morning before the announcement. She was clearly stunned. You can hear it. And she quickly deflected the praise from herself to what she said is the people of Venezuela fighting for democracy.
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MARIA CORINA MACHADO: I am just, you know, one person. I certainly do not deserve this (crying). Oh, my God.
KRISTIAN BERG HARPVIKEN: I think both the movement and you deserve it.
DETROW: Wow. Tell us more about Machado's work in Venezuela.
KAHN: She has long been an outspoken critic of President Nicolas Maduro and previous socialist governments in Venezuela. She tried to run against Maduro in the last election back in 2024, but was barred from running. She backed an elderly, little-known candidate to run in her place. And she just crisscrossed the country, bringing out these huge crowds to oppose Maduro. And this part was really important. She built this amazing cadre of election observers who were able to collect an indisputable number of voting tally sheets on election night. And those sheets just came to prove that the election was stolen by Maduro and provided a way for the results to be independently validated. The U.S. and many nations decried the fraud.
DETROW: And Carrie, you covered that election. You traveled with her on several occasions. What can you tell us about her personally?
KAHN: She's been dubbed Venezuela's Iron Lady, and she definitely is that. Politically, she's very conservative and a free-market champion. But during the election, she was singularly focused on ousting Maduro and rallying the country. On this one trip we took with her across the country, she had to travel in the early, early morning hours. She had to try and evade the police, who would often stop her caravans. Airlines wouldn't sell her tickets. Gas stations wouldn't sell her gas. Her drivers carried their own tanks of gas. And we stopped in this one town to refill tanks and meet supporters, and I jumped in her SUV. And she just told me she really believed in electoral democracy and that the opposition could win.
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MACHADO: We have to defeat the tyranny, and we have to build a country around trust in each other and dignity.
KAHN: Right after the election, she held huge rallies decrying the fraud. And that was very brave of her because soon after, Maduro cracked down on the opposition. More than two dozen people died and thousands were jailed, according to human rights observers. And soon after, she went into hiding.
DETROW: She thanked President Trump today. How important of an ally is President Trump?
KAHN: He is very important to her in her campaign to oust Maduro. The U.S. right now has this large flotilla of naval destroyers off the coast of Venezuela in an unprecedented use of the U.S. military in the fight against drug trafficking. She supported that - the military's recent deadly strikes against alleged drug trafficking boats from Venezuela. The government there has accused Trump of promoting regime change. And she's had to walk this really difficult political line as Trump has cracked down on Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. too.
And she was quite astute today, thanking Trump publicly. President Trump reposted her post thanking him. And the White House was, however, not as cordial and blasted the Nobel Committee for its choice, saying it proved they placed politics over peace in giving her the award.
DETROW: That is NPR's Carrie Kahn. Thank you so much.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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