Nobel Peace Prize 2025

Throughout human civilization, there have been wars and without wars, for sure, Civilisation could have had better pages.  War is bad – it is never good for the warring countries -  it has been 1,326 days since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022  If the World shuns war and wants peace – it must encourage and appreciate peace.

 

Thought the highest acclaim Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to individuals / Organisations, who shape the globe towards harmony !!  Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. Promotion of peace is a core tenet of many philosophies, religions, and ideologies, many of which consider it a core tenet of their philosophy. 

The Nobel Peace Prize   is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. Since March 1901, it has been awarded annually (with some exceptions) to people who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”. 

Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote democratic rights in Venezuela. Nobel web states : “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”

 

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. It is a highly regarded award, recognised internationally.  Since the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, the Peace Prize has, in accordance with Alfred Nobel's will, been awarded by a committee of five, appointed by the Storting (the Norwegian Parliamant), but without the committee being formally responsible to the Storting.   The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded on the day of Alfred Nobel’s death, the 10th of December, a time-honored tradition since 1901. During the Nobel days in December a number of events mark the occasion. 

The announcement reads :   Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace – to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.  She is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.  Ms Machado has been a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government. 

Interestingly, the Award goes to a Nation deep buried in crisis and the awardee is not exactly a symbol of peace.    

In recent weeks, the US has bombed at least four boats in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, killing at least 21 people. The US claims they are drug-trafficking vessels but has not provided any details about those on board.  Venezuela,  is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea.  

As of October 2025, Venezuela's crisis has been exacerbated by the fallout from the disputed July 28 presidential election, leading to increased political repression, social unrest, and heightened tensions with the United States. An ongoing humanitarian emergency continues to grip the country, forcing millions to flee. The  crisis began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened during the presidency of successor Nicolás Maduro. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation, disease, crime, and mortality rates, resulting in massive emigration.  It is the worst economic crisis in Venezuela's history, and the worst facing a country in peacetime since the mid-20th century. The crisis is often considered more severe than the Great Depression in the United States, the 1985–1994 Brazilian economic crisis, or the 2008–2009 hyperinflation in Zimbabwe .

According to the official Nobel website, as of 2024 the Peace Prize has been awarded 105 times to 142 laureates (111 individuals and 31 organizations). Alfred Nobel’s will stipulated that the Peace Prize should go to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”  

The selection is made by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, and nominations are collected from a restricted group including former laureates, members of national assemblies, professors, and certain organizations. Beyond prestige, the Nobel Peace Prize carries real symbolic weight: it spotlights causes and individuals often operating in difficult or dangerous environments. Laureates receive a medal, diploma, and monetary award.  

This year, US President Donald Trump drew particular attention. He repeatedly asserted that he “deserves” a Nobel Peace Prize, claiming to have ended or mediated multiple conflicts. Trump stated that he stopped or deescalated “seven wars,” and more recently suggested they may become eight with a Gaza ceasefire.  Historically, only four US presidents have won the Peace Prize. These include Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.   

María Corina Machado Parisca (born 7 October 1967) is a Venezuelan politician and activist. A prominent opposition leader to the goverments of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, she served as a member of the National Assembly from 2011 to 2014, and has run as a candidate in presidential elections while experiencing repression from the Maduro regime.  An industrial engineer with a master's degree in finance, Machado began her political career as a founder of the vote-monitoring organization Súmate.   

In 2023, Machado won the opposition primary to become the unity candidate for the 2024 presidential election. The Venezuelan government subsequently barred her from running in the election.  She named Corina Yoris as a replacement candidate, who was later replaced by Edmundo González Urrutia. The opposition presented vote tallies, claiming that González Urritia won the election in a landslide, while the Maduro government claimed victory.     

Earlier in June  2023, she was disqualified for fifteen years by the comptroller general of Venezuela, after a request from the politician José Brito. The comptroller linked her to alleged crimes by Juan Guaidó and accused her of supporting sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis.   Machado's 15-year disqualification was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Justice in January 2024. The court said the disqualification was "for being involved... in the corruption plot orchestrated by the usurper Juan Guaido", which had led to a "criminal blockade of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as the shameless dispossession of the companies and wealth of the Venezuelan people abroad, with the complicity of corrupt governments".  

Machado is divorced and has three children;  her children live abroad due to death threats at home  

In the earliest years of the Peace Prize - up to World War I - the prize was often awarded to pioneers of the organized peace movement. In the inter-war years, the focus shifted to active politicians who sought to promote international peace, stability and justice by means of diplomacy and international agreements, but prizes were also awarded for humanitarian work.  Since World War II, the Peace Prize has principally been awarded to honour efforts in four main areas: arms control and disarmament, peace negotiation, democracy and human rights, and work aimed at creating a better organized and more peaceful world.    

The man at the start - Frédéric Passy (1822 - 1912) was the first winner.   In 1901, the First Nobel Peace Prize -  was equally divided between the Swiss humanitarian Henri Dunant (1828–1910) "for his humanitarian efforts to help wounded soldiers and create international understanding" and the French pacifist Frédéric Passy.  In both age and prominence, he was the dean of the international peace movement. Both as an economist and as a politician, he maintained that free trade between independent nations promoted peace. Passy founded the first French Peace Society, he opposed France's colonial policy because it did not accord with the ideals of free trade. Passy was also one of the founders of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an organization for cooperation between the elected representatives of different countries. Despite his age, Passy kept up his work for peace after 1901. In 1905, when the conflict over the union between Sweden and Norway peaked, Passy declared that a peaceful solution would make him a hundred times happier than when he received the Nobel Prize. And Passy saw his wish fulfilled.

 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
11.10.2025