Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for promoting democratic rights in her country and her struggle to achieve a transition to democracy, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer who lives in hiding, was blocked in 2024 by Venezuela’s courts from running for president and thus challenging President Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power since 2013.

‘When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,’ it said in its citation.

The lead-up to this year’s award had been dominated by US President Donald Trump’s repeated public statements that he deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The committee took its final decision before a ceasefire and hostage deal under the first phase of Trump’s initiative to end the war in Gaza was announced on Wednesday.

Ahead of the Nobel announcement, experts on the award had also said Trump was very unlikely to win as his policies were seen as dismantling the international world order the Nobel committee cherishes.

The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.