A Venezuelan opposition leader's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize will help redouble efforts to transition the South American country back to democratic rule, recipient Maria Corina Machado said.
The price "injects energy and confidence into Venezuelans, both inside and outside the country, to complete our task," Machado said. Machado was barred from running in Venezuela's last presidential election in July 2024, which Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro claims to have won for a third term despite international condemnation. Machado has been in hiding in Venezuela for several months as Maduro has increased crackdowns on political opposition members.
Machado thanked US president Donald Trump for his support. This comes as US military forces have recently conducted several missile strikes on Venezuela boats, killing an estimated 21 people alleged to be gang members it claims are ferrying drugs to the US.
"We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump," Machado wrote on social media. She dedicated the prize to "the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump!"
Trump reposted her message, but White House communications director Steven Cheung separately complained that the Nobel committee places "politics over peace" with her selection, lauding Trump's peace deals.
Trump also reposted comments from Russian president Vladimir Putin, who criticized the Nobel prize committee and heaped praise on Trump. "Thank you to President Putin!", Trump wrote.
Venezuela's leaders have complained that the US is planning an invasion of Venezuela, although outside estimates peg the military force there as much smaller than what would be required for that.
Maduro's foreign minister Yvan Gil told the UN's security council in a letter dated Thursday that "based on proven, reasonable, and objective information" an "armed attack by the United States of America against Venezuela may occur in the very near future".
But the US has also eased some restrictions on doing business in Venezuela, while Venezuela's opposition political movement has mostly asked the US to increase pressure on Maduro. Trinidad and Tobago again has a license from the US that allows it to resume developing a major gas field in Venezuelan waters just across its maritime border, the Caribbean islands' attorney general John Jeremie said on Thursday.
Chevron continues to export Venezuelan crude to the US as it has done since August after the US reinstated its sanctions waiver. About 131,000 b/d went to the US from Venezuela in September, out of a total of 966,000 b/d of exports. China took 359,000 b/d, according to ship tracking data from Kpler.
