The president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee urged Nicolás Maduro to leave power to lay the foundations for a peaceful transition to democracy, a demand that – he said – “is the will of the Venezuelan people.” He recognized the bravery of María Corina Machado “for her tireless work for democracy” and recalled the humanitarian crisis faced by the population, as well as the torture, arrests and disappearances of hundreds of political prisoners, especially adolescents.
The exhortation from Norway was clear: Nicolás Maduro must leave power to make way for a democratic transition in Venezuela. The demand came directly from the president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, during a speech where he warned of the risks facing democracy and peace in the world, in addition to the serious risks of facing a “brutal regime.”
“Mr. Maduro: You must accept the electoral results and resign from your position. You must lay the foundations for a peaceful transition to democracy because that is the will of the Venezuelan people. María Corina Machado and the Venezuelan opposition have lit a flame that no torture, no lies and no fear will be able to extinguish,” stated the president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
At the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, which María Corina Machado could not receive in person, Watne Frydnes recalled at the beginning of her speech three political prisoners: the teenager Samantha Sofía Hernández, the former deputy Juan Requesens and the former governor Alfredo Díaz, the latter who died in El Helicoide in the custody of the State.
“These stories are not unique, they are the way Venezuela treats its own people… Samantha, Juan and Alfredo were not extremists, they were Venezuelans waiting for democracy and peace,” he asserted.
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Ana Corina Sosa Machado received the medal and diploma for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of her mother, opposition leader María Corina Machado, who could not make it to the ceremony in Oslo
Watne Frydnes pointed out that under the Maduro regime, more than 230 boys and girls were detained and suffered torture such as “plastic bags over their heads, electric shocks to their genitals, sexual violence, cells so cold that they do not stop shaking.”
He also mentioned the effects that imprisonment left on these adolescents or the tribulations experienced by the 893 people who, according to the Penal Forum, remain detained for political reasons in the country. “They can’t hear today’s speeches, only the screams of the prisoners who are being tortured.”
The president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee asserted that Venezuela “has evolved into a brutal authoritarianism” with the population facing a humanitarian and economic crisis while a “small elite at the top, protected by power, weapons and impunity, enriches itself.”
In addition, he pointed out that behind Maduro’s permanence in power are the regimes of Cuba, Russia, Iran, China and the terrorist group Hezbollah, “which provide weapons, surveillance systems and means of economic survival. “They make the regime more robust and more brutal.”
However, he highlighted that “we find Venezuelans who refuse to surrender despite the personal costs,” among them “the elected president of Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia” and the opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Frydnes said that the world has turned its “back” on the Venezuelan situation, which he stressed is not unique in the world as he mentioned the antidemocratic and “militaristic” drift that various countries have taken, facing a scenario where elections are expected next year in several nations.
The Nobel Prize goes to María Corina Machado
In his speech, the Nobel Prize winner reviewed the political career of Machado, who he said has participated in dialogue processes for years. He also accused the Maduro administration of “manipulating” his version to sell the opposition as an extremist sector.
«Mrs. Machado has requested international attention, support and pressure, not an invasion of Venezuela. “He has urged the population to defend their rights through peaceful and democratic means,” he stated.
Likewise, he said that the 2024 presidential elections were a “decisive factor” for Machado’s choice of the award, and described the opposition’s action to secure copies of the minutes as “an unprecedented grassroots mobilization in Venezuela and, probably, in the entire world.”
«To all those in Caracas and other cities in Venezuela who are forced to whisper the language of freedom: Listen to us now. Let them know that the world does not turn its back on them. That freedom is coming. And that Venezuela will once again be a peaceful and democratic country. “Let a new era dawn,” he said.
For Frydnes, the future of Venezuela can take many forms, “but the present is only one, and it is horrible.” Under this scenario, the president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee asserted, the democratic opposition forces in Venezuela “must have our support, not our indifference or, worse still, our condemnation.”
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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