OSLO — The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 has been awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday, recognizing her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”

Machado, 58, has long been a prominent voice against authoritarianism in her country, campaigning for free elections, human rights, and political reform amid years of political and economic turmoil under the rule of President Nicolás Maduro.

The announcement comes despite speculation that US President Donald Trump, who had publicly lobbied for the award, might be considered for his role in recent Middle East peace efforts.

The committee said Machado’s “unwavering courage in the face of repression and her steadfast commitment to nonviolent democratic change” represent the core ideals of the Peace Prize.

This year’s prize had 338 nominations, including 244 individuals and 94 organizations, according to the committee.

Last year, the award went to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese grassroots movement of atomic bombing survivors, for its efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and highlight the human cost of nuclear warfare.

Since its establishment in 1901, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 105 times to 142 laureates, including 111 individuals and 31 organizations.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has received the award three times, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has won it twice.

The Nobel Prizes — founded through the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel — are considered among the world’s most prestigious honors, recognizing achievements in peace, literature, medicine, physics, and chemistry, with the economics prize added later in 1969. — Agencies