WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has won this year's Nobel Prize for Peace.
Announcing the award Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said it decided to the highest award to Maria Machado 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 committee described her as 'a brave and committed champion of peace - a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness'.
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.
Venezuela has evolved from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to a brutal, authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis. Most Venezuelans live in deep poverty, even as the few at the top enrich themselves. The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country's own citizens. It is estimated that nearly 8 million people have left the country. The opposition has been systematically suppressed by means of election rigging, legal prosecution and imprisonment under the Nicolas Maduro regime.
As a founder of Súmate, an organization devoted to democratic development, Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago. She has spoken out for judicial independence, human rights and popular representation. She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
Ahead of the presidential election held last year, Machado was the opposition's presidential candidate, but the regime blocked her candidacy. She then backed the representative of a different party, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in the election.
The election results showed that the opposition had won by a clear margin. But the regime refused to accept the election result, and clung to power.
In the past year, Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people.
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