Nobel winner vilified by Maduro vows to continue her fight for Venezuela

President Nicolás Maduro has described opposition leader María Corina Machado as a “wild demoness,” a “war criminal,” and “la Sayona,” a vengeful spirit from Venezuelan folklore.

 

On Friday morning, that same woman became the first in the country to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She heard the news of her win while still in hiding from the autocrat’s oppressive regime. 

 

It’s historic — and symbolic for the movement that likely would have ended more than two decades of socialist rule had Maduro not refused to accept his apparent election loss.

 

But the reality is that Machado’s prize is unlikely to help improve the circumstances for her supporters and opposition leaders, whose ranks have thinned under a brutal crackdown that’s sent many to jail or into exile.  

 

 

Maduro, determined to move past the July 2024 presidential vote — which was widely condemned as fraudulent — has tightened his control and pushed Venezuela further toward one-party rule.

 

News of Machado’s award didn’t register in official media. State television aired a cooking show at 9 a.m., while a handful of independent outlets broke the story online under the close eye of government censors that have eliminated any semblance of a free press.

 

Since her passport was seized by the government nearly a decade ago, Machado is unlikely to collect the award in person.

 

“Every fight against a dictatorship is an uphill struggle. Similar peace prizes to democracy activists in the past have not led to instant change in the country,” said James Bosworth, founder of political risk firm Hxagon. “Whatever the short-term implications, this is positive for the long-term effort to regain democracy in Venezuela and is certainly deserved.”

 

Nationalist Efforts 

Maduro has shown no sign of loosening his grip or tolerating dissent — even as Donald Trump has taken a hard line against the strongman’s regime. The US president has ordered multiple strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking vessels and, just this week, called off diplomatic engagement, raising the specter of further and more direct military intervention. 

 

More recently, Trump has suggested he could order the US military to escalate attacks by hitting cartel infrastructure on land — a move that may also involve risky strikes on Venezuelan military targets. 

 

The Trump administration’s actions have been endorsed by Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela, but she has stopped short of directly calling for physical intervention or takeover. She has urged Venezuela’s armed forces not to “endorse” a regime that was “on its way out.”

 

The Venezuelan president has used the moment to rally nationalist sentiment and divert attention toward a common enemy. He’s spent weeks calling for Venezuelans to enlist in the militia to counter US threats, with the armed forces offering to train civilians in the use of weapons. He’s deployed troops, planes and drones to the border with Colombia and deployed military exercises off Margarita Island.  

 

For Maduro, keeping the armed forces united is key to staying in power. He’s heavily relied on them to carry out a purge of his dissenters. There remain about 841 political prisoners in Venezuela, roughly 100 from Machado’s Vente party alone.

 

“The real factor is whether the military splits with Maduro or not, and we haven’t seen that,” said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “The regime remains fairly strong and entrenched.”

 

Trump Call 

There’s a chance that Maduro’s government could attempt to use Machado’s Nobel win as a way to create a divide between her and Trump, who had openly campaigned for the prize, partly on his work to broker peace in the Middle East. 

 

“The government will now have Machado even more firmly in its crosshairs,” said Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. “Given Trump’s public campaign for the award, Maduro will likely try and use this to drive a wedge between Trump and the opposition.”

 

In a post on social media, Machado dedicated the award to the US president and to the Venezuelan people. She praised Trump’s “decisive support.” He reposted her statement on his own account. 

While there are some outward signs that Trump is displeased with the Nobel committee’s choice, he called Machado to congratulate her for her Nobel Peace Prize, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

White House spokespeople didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Machado didn’t respond either.

 

Machado remains the face of Venezuela’s divided opposition. Her faction continues to dispute the 2024 vote and has called for boycotts of upcoming elections, while others argue participation is vital to maintain a foothold in the National Assembly, governorships and mayorships as a form of resistance.

 

“We’re not there yet. We’re working very hard to achieve it but I’m sure that we will prevail,” Machado said when receiving news of the award. “This is certainly the biggest recognition to our people that certainly deserve it.”