Venezuelan opposition leader and pro-democracy campaigner Maria Corina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The committee chose her for “tireless work promoting democratic rights… and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
It said she had resisted death threats in her fight against President Nicolas Maduro – widely considered a dictator who’s cheated elections.
Maria Corina Machado at a protest in January. Pic: Reuters
“When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,” it added.
The Nobel committee said Ms Machado had been forced into hiding but had stayed in Venezuela, calling it a “choice that has inspired millions of people”.
“Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk,” it said.
There was speculation Donald Trump had an outside chance of winning.
Although his deal on a Gaza ceasefire was only agreed this week, the president previously said he had stopped seven wars – claims many have taken issue with.
Mr Trump commented at the UN last month that “everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize” – and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said in July he had put the president’s name forward.
Nina Graeger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told Sky News the Gaza deal had probably come too late for this year’s award.
However, she said if it led to “a lasting and sustainable peace… the committee would almost certainly have to take that into serious consideration in next year’s deliberations”.
President Maduro attended President Putin’s Victory Day in Moscow this year. Pic: AP
Ms Machado, 58, was lauded by the Nobel committee as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times”.
Her candidacy for last year’s Venezuelan election was blocked by the regime but she backed Edmundo Gonzalez, the leader of another opposition party.
President Maduro, president since 2013, claimed a third term in power despite exit polls pointing to a decisive opposition win.
He claimed his re-election was a triumph of peace and stability, and claimed the electoral system was transparent.
Ms Machado disputed the result and said opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had recorded an “overwhelming” victory.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state at the time, said America had “serious concerns” about the result, while the UK said it was “concerned by allegations of serious irregularities in the counting”.
Nobel said Ms Machado first stood up for free an fair elections more than 20 years ago, when she called for “ballots over bullets”, and ever since had continued campaigning on issues such as judicial independence and human rights.
The committee painted a bleak picture of her home country, saying many in the oil-rich Venezuela live in poverty after it went from being a “relatively democratic and prosperous country to a brutal, authoritarian state”.
“The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country’s own citizens,” it said, citing claims of vote rigging and jailing of opponents, and noting about eight million people had left the country.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
