The UN Human Rights Office congratulated Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, and stressed that the recognition “reflects the clear aspirations of the people of Venezuela for free and fair elections, civil rights, and respect for the rule of law”.
“The High Commissioner for Human Rights (Volker Türk) has consistently defended these values,” added the office’s spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan at a press conference.
The spokesperson emphasized the UN office’s desire to “maintain a good faith dialogue with the Government of Venezuela and with all parties involved, on the basis of mutual respect.”
“We remain firmly committed to continue working to defend and protect the human rights of all Venezuelans, both inside the country and abroad,” he added, regretting that in July the National Assembly of Venezuela declared High Commissioner Türk ‘persona non grata’.
The spokesperson for the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Alessandra Vellucci, joined in the congratulations at the same press conference and recalled that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has recognized Machado for “the promotion of the democratic rights of the people of Venezuela and for his struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
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The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to “a brave and committed defender of peace, a woman who keeps the flame of democracy alive in the midst of growing darkness,” said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in the reading of the verdict.
