STOCKHOLM, October 10. /TASS/. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado.
The activist received the prize "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy," the Committee explained in a statement.
Machado was born in Caracas in 1967. In 2010, she was elected to Venezuela’s National Assembly, and two years later she led the Vente Venezuela opposition movement. In 2014, she took an active part in anti-government protests and was put on trial on charges of leading plots to topple President Nicolas Maduro and even kill him. Following court trials, she was temporarily banned from government positions.
Last year, Venezuela held a presidential election which Maduro won with 51.95% of the vote. Even as Machado did not run for presidency, she supported Edmundo Gonsalez, who garnered 43.18% of the vote. Machado said on the day of the election that the Gonsalez camp would not recognize Maduro’s claim to victory.
While the United States, among other countries, did not recognize the re-election of Maduro, Russia, China, Bolivia, Cuba, Iran and other nations congratulated the Venezuelan leader on his election win.
This year’s Nobel Week began with the awarding of the Prize in Medicine on October 6. Earlier, US President Donald Trump threatened Norway with higher import tariffs if the Norwegian Nobel Committee does not award him the Peace Prize, The Daily Telegraph reported.
