Venezuelan opposition figure and last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado says she gave Trump award out of ‘recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom’
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) – Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday that she gave US President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize, defying the Nobel Committee’s emphasis that the award could not be transferred.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters at the Capitol after her meeting with Trump and later lawmakers. Machado said she gave Trump the prestigious award out of “recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom”.
The Nobel Peace Centre said that the medals cannot be shared or transferred.
It said on X: “One truth remains … ‘Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.’.”
“A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot,” it underlined.
Last week, in a statement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said: “The facts are clear and well established. Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time.”
The prize was awarded to Machado for her efforts to promote “democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”
Machado, who had been in hiding since Venezuela’s 2024 elections, had urged the international community to take action against President Nicolas Maduro, who on January 3 was kidnapped by the US to New York to face charges. In 2018, she sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting his “expertise and influence.”
Although Trump had repeatedly suggested he deserved the honour, Machado received the prize “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”
Trump said it was his “Great Honour” to meet Machado at the White House.
* Diyar Guldogan from Washington, DC and Seda Sevencan from Istanbul contributed to this report
