María Corina Machado, Venezuelan Opposition Leader, Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Today, the Nobel Prize Committee announced that María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who has built a powerful social movement challenging authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro, will be awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Calling her “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times,” the Nobel Prize Committee cited Machado’s work in advancing democracy in the face of dictatorship in awarding her the 2025 Peace Prize. “She has brought her country’s opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy. Maria Corina Machado has shown that the tools of democracy are also the tools of peace.”

In remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting last year, Machado carried that message to an audience of global leaders, emphasizing the role that women have played in pushing for peace and democratic values:.

“This journey, we have come in less than 2 years, we awakened a country. A country that we’ve seen sad, without hope, and divided. We went from communities, tiny, tiny communities, to big cities, and we unified around values.”

“And we had women certainly in the front lines, because it’s all about families. It’s about living with dignity, with justice, with opportunities for all, and freedom. And what every single woman told me around Venezuela is, ‘I want to bring my kids back home.'”

For 20 years, leaders including many Nobel Peace Laureates have addressed global leaders from CGI’s stage. At this year’s CGI meeting, Maria Ressa (2021 Peace Laureate) and Denis Mukwege (2018 Peace Laureate) addressed and inspired global leaders, while former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2011 Peace Laureate) announced a new CGI Commitment to Action — the construction of the world’s first female presidential center.

In recent years at CGI, leaders have heard from Muhammad Yunus (2006 Peace Laureate), Malala Yousafzai (2014 Peace Laureate), Nadia Murad (2018 Peace Laureate), Leymah Gbowee (2011 Peace Laureate), Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu (1984 Peace Laureate), President Barack Obama (2009 Peace Laureate), and President Jimmy Carter (2002 Peace Laureate).

At this year’s CGI Annual Meeting, women’s roles in advancing peace and democracy was again high on the agenda. The “Invest in Women, Invest in Democracy” session brought together women on the forefront of democratic values worldwide, including President Vjosa Osmani of Kosovo, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, former President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Run for Something Co-Founder and Executive Director Amanda Litman, and more.

At CGI this year, Secretary Clinton also marked 30 years since her speech in Beijing declaring that “human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, once and for all.” Secretary Clinton also announced a new Commitment to Action – a landmark report by the Women’s Initiative at Columbia SIPA’s Institute of Global Politics (IGP) and GWL Voices: Beijing+30: A Roadmap for Women’s Rights for the Next Thirty Years. The report outlines policy priorities critical to advancing the full and equal participation of women and girls in the twenty-first century, including in the areas of democracy and human rights, technology, economic participation, and conflict and climate.

Watch Machado’s full address at CGI here, as part of the Women on the Frontlines spotlight session: