OSLO: Opposition activist Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The former opposition presidential candidate in Venezuela was lauded for being a “key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government,” said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.
Experts say the committee typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals.
There has been persistent speculation ahead of the announcement about the possibility of the prize going to US President Donald Trump, fueled in part by the president himself, amplified by this week’s approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. But longtime Nobel watchers say his chances remain remote despite various notable foreign policy interventions for which he has taken personal credit.
Groups cited as possible winners by the Peace Research Institute Oslo include Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms, a community-led network that has become the backbone of the country’s humanitarian response to its civil war; the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court; and the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based group that promotes press freedom and compiles a list of journalists killed on duty.
