Maria Corina Machado, a prominent Venezuelan opposition politician, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight to promote democratic rights in her country.

Machado, a 58-year-old engineer living in hiding in Venezuela, was barred by the country's courts from running against President Nicolas Maduro in the 2024 elections.

"Maria Corina receives this Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless efforts to advance democratic rights for the Venezuelan people and to bring about a just and peaceful transition from authoritarian rule to democracy," the Nobel Committee said in a statement today at its headquarters in Oslo, Norway.

The committee described Machado as "one of the most remarkable examples of civil heroism in Latin America," and Al Jazeera reported that Machado was "a key unifying figure within Venezuela's fragmented political opposition."

Machado was briefly seen at a rally organized by Maduro on his birthday, but has since remained in hiding.

"I was shocked I was overwhelmed with joy," Machado said in a statement after hearing from hiding that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize.