Within hours of being named the Nobel Peace laureate for 2025, María Corina Machado called on President Trump to step up his military and economic campaign against her own country, Venezuela.

The curriculum vitae of the opposition leader hardly lines up with what one would typically associate with a peacemaker. Nor are those who nominated her: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and recent US national security adviser Mike Waltz, both drivers of violent policies towards Venezuela.

“The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace, to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness,” read the Nobel Committee statement.

Let’s see if Machado passes that litmus test and is worthy of standing alongside last year’s winners, Nihon Hidankyo, representing the Japanese hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, “honoured for their decades-long commitment to nuclear disarmament and their tireless witness against the horrors of nuclear war".

Machado is a passionate Zionist and supporter of both the State of Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu personally. She has not been silent on the genocide; indeed, she has actively called for Israel to press ahead, saying Hamas “must be defeated at all costs, whatever form it takes”.

If Machado achieves power in Venezuela, among her first long-promised acts will be the ending of Venezuela’s support for Palestine and the transfer of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. She is a signatory of a co-operation agreement with Israel’s Likud Party.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, US’ largest Muslim civil rights organisation, called Machado a supporter of anti-Muslim fascism and decried the award as ‘insulting and unacceptable”.

Venezuelan activist Michelle Ellner wrote in the US progressive outlet Code Pink:

“She’s the........

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