CARACAS, Venezuela — Some viewed the news as signaling the beginning of the end of the economic, political and social calamity that, for the last decade, has engulfed Venezuela, prompting millions to flee their South American homeland.
“When I saw the news, I cried, hugged my children and prayed,” said Mari Carmen Bermúdez, 34, a supermarket cashier in Caracas. “I feel like our nightmare will end soon.”
Others said the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado — a veteran antigovernment activist who lives here in hiding — was just the latest chapter in the U.S.-led plot to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro.
“In my opinion, señora Machado has never called for peace in the country, only for war,” said Yober David Avalos, 28, an appliance repairman and motorcycle taxi driver. “I don’t think she’s a persecuted politician. From her hideout she has called for an invasion of Venezuela.”
The mixed reactions to Machado’s award, both in Venezuela and across the continent, reflect the complicated politics and shifting alliances in the region. The conservative president of Argentina and the leftist leader of Colombia both congratulated Machado. Cuba denounced as “shameful” the decision to honor “a person who instigates military intervention in her Homeland.” Mexico’s leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum, the region’s top woman leader, declined comment.
Some observers wonder whether the award could encourage more aggressive U.S. behavior against Maduro, whom the White House has branded a “narco-terrorist.”
There was no immediate official reaction in Venezuela to Machado’s award. The news generated international headlines, but was ignored by official news channels.
On social media, Machado declared that the opposition was “on the threshold of victory,” and pointedly dispatched verbal bouquets to Trump.
“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” Machado wrote.
It was a nod to a president who had campaigned openly for the award for himself, and was clearly indignant that he lost out. The White House complained that the Nobel Committee had chosen “politics over peace.”
In an apparent bid at conciliation, Machado reached out by telephone to Trump.
“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me, and said, ‘I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,’” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office. “It’s a very nice thing to do. I didn’t say, ‘Then give it to me,’ though I think she might have. She was very nice.”
While extolled by supporters as Venezuela’s “dama de hierro” — the iron lady, a sobriquet bestowed decades ago on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — Machado is a controversial figure, even within the Venezuelan opposition. Critics assail her unequivocal praise for Trump and his policies — and her refusal to renounce potential military intervention in Venezuela.
Whether the prize will affect Washington’s evolving policy on Venezuela remains unclear. Though the U.S. raised a bounty on Maduro’s head to $50 million, Washington and Caracas are still cooperating on several levels: Venezuela has been accepting deportees from the United States, and the Trump administration allows U.S. oil giant Chevron to operate in the country.
“I think the U.S. is still where it was before,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela analyst with the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. “Ultimately, Washington’s policy towards Venezuela is at a crossroads. The White House needs to decide whether it wants to escalate military strikes, engage directly with Caracas, or simply declare victory and move on.”
Machado has said that her political movement is prepared to take over should Maduro fall, and has a plan for the first 100 days of a transition.
In selecting Machado, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
The specifics behind Nobel deliberations remain secret. But one line of speculation held that Machado was picked in part because she would be acceptable to the White House, perhaps tempering Trump’s annoyance at not winning the prize.
Machado, 58, is conservative and openly advocates for regime change in a government that is in Washington’s crosshairs.
Still, Machado “has a legitimate cause behind her, and the prize means a lot to Venezuelans who have committed to democracy in an authoritarian context,” said Laura Cristina Dib, Venezuela analyst for the Washington Office on Latin America, a research and advocacy group.
Amid widespread allegations of fraud, Maduro claimed victory at the ballot box in July 2024, but refused to present definitive data backing his claim. According to the opposition, the candidate backed by Machado, Edmundo González Urrutia, was robbed of the presidency. Washington recognizes him as the winner.
On Friday, Machado declined to answer when asked by the Spanish daily El País if she ruled out a U.S. military incursion in Venezuela. Governments, she said, must make a choice: “To be with the people of Venezuela or with a narco-terrorist cartel.”
In a recent appearance on Fox News, Machado didn’t object to the Trump administration policy of blowing up suspected drug-ferrying boats in international waters off the coast of Venezuela — attacks that have left 21 people dead and that human rights activists assailed as extrajudicial killings.
In her Fox guest slot, Machado echoed White House talking points. “Maduro has turned Venezuela into the biggest national security threat to the U.S. and the stability of the region,” she said.
In addition, Machado has failed to condemn Trump’s controversial immigration policies, including the deportation in March of more than 200 Venezuelan nationals to a prison in El Salvador, a move denounced by human rights activists — and by Maduro — as illegal.
Machado has also not weighed in on Trump’s plan to end protected status for more than 500,000 Venezuelans in the United States, a move that could lead to their deportations.
One hope, said Dib, is that “giving her the award is a way to hold her to a higher standard of trying to achieve a democratic transition.”
The award resonated with many in Florida — home to the largest Venezuelan population in the United States — where both Republican and Democratic leaders praised Machado.
Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (R-Fla.) called her the “world’s bravest freedom fighter,” adding: “Maria Corina inspired us all and dedicated her win to President Trump — the strongest ally the Venezuelan people have ever had.”
But some worried that Trump supporters, enraged at a perceived snub, could hold the award against Venezuelans in the United States.
“We were already being criminalized and singled out,” said Maria Puerta Riera, a Venezuelan-American political science professor in Orlando and Colorado. “This is not going to help our image.”
Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Caracas, Times staff writers McDonnell and Linthicum from Mexico City and Times staff writer Ceballos from Washington. Times staff writer Andrea Castillo in Washington contributed to this report.
The post In Venezuela, Nobel Peace Prize for antigovernment activist elicits tears of hope, condemnation appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
