The largest opposition coalition in Venezuela, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), considered this Wednesday that the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the leader María Corina Machado is also a “recognition to each victim, to the fallen, to the persecuted and to each human rights defender” in the South American country.
In a message posted on their X account, the PUD celebrated Machado’s Nobel, which they also considered a recognition “of the civic commitment of millions of Venezuelans who have peacefully defended their right to live in freedom and dignity.”
“This honor reaffirms the value of the Venezuela that perseveres and opens democratic paths. May this day inspire everyone to continue betting on the rescue of democracy in our country. Today, the fight for the freedom of political prisoners is even more conducive,” stated the opposition coalition.
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The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, urged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro this Wednesday to accept the 2024 election results and to resign from his position to lay the groundwork for a “democracy” in the country.
“He must accept the election results and resign from his post. He must lay the foundations for a peaceful transition to democracy, because that is the will of the Venezuelan people. María Corina Machado and the Venezuelan opposition have lit a flame that no torture, no lie, and no fear will be able to extinguish,” he said in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
For his part, Machado dedicated his Nobel Peace Prize to all the people of Venezuela and to the “heroes” who fight for the “freedom” of that country, as well as to “the leaders of the world” who supported her, in a speech read by his daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, who received the award on his behalf in Oslo.
The opposition leader did not arrive at the ceremony, but her daughter confirmed that in “a few hours” she will be able to embrace her mother in the Norwegian capital and that the opposition leader’s intention is to return “very soon” to Venezuela.
The act was attended by Venezuelan opposition leader and Machado’s ally, Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims the presidency of his country, asserting that he was elected in the 2024 presidential elections, despite the electoral body, controlled by rectors aligned with Chavismo, proclaiming Maduro’s re-election, a result that has not been recognized by several countries.
Machado was the seventh Latin American personality to receive the award.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, based in Oslo, announced in October that it was selected “for its tireless work in promoting the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for its struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
