María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader driven into hiding since a disputed election last year, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for keeping “the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.

The announcement came three days after María Corina Machado, an opposition leader, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung accused the Norwegian Nobel Committee of putting “politics over peace” early Friday after it awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

The odds of Maria Corina Machado winning the prize jumped from 3.75% to nearly 73% before the announcement was made.