Maria Corina Machado, a fearless activist with rock-star appeal, is a key face of the opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s iron-fisted regime.
Hailed as “la libertadora”, in an allusion to Venezuelan independence hero Simon “The Liberator” Bolivar, Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her work.
She was barred from challenging Maduro in 2024 elections, then detained and released after seeking to fire up resistance to the Venezuelan leader.
In July, she called for “clandestine” resistance against Maduro on the anniversary of his disputed re-election.
For weeks rumors have circulated on social networks that Machado, who has gone into hiding, is sheltering at the US embassy.
Polled as the most popular politician in Venezuela by far, Machado had accepted taking a political back seat and campaigned tirelessly for her last-minute replacement on the ballot: little-known ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Machado had won an opposition primary with 90 percent of votes cast in 2023, but was promptly declared ineligible by authorities loyal to Maduro.
She embraced the reluctant candidacy of Gonzalez Urrutia, accompanying him on rallies and soaking up the spotlight he shuns.
Always dressed in white, she often appears at rallies with multiple rosaries around her neck: gifts from adoring supporters.
As if she were a rock star, they rush to get a glimpse or touch her, holding up babies and children and proffering handwritten notes of support and presents of baseball caps or flowers.
“Si, se puede!” (Yes we can!), they chant at her rallies, thronging the streets in a bid to get close to her cavalcade, clambering onto roofs for a better view, snapping cellphone photos and waving Venezuelan flags.
The excitement Machado generated helped little when it came to election day, with Maduro claiming victory.
The European Union and numerous countries have recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s president-elect.
US strikes
The Nobel announcement comes as the United States has increasingly carried out strikes off its shore in international waters, claiming to act against drug smugglers.
The US military action has killed at least 21 people in recent weeks.
Washington accuses Maduro of leading a drug cartel, and does not recognize him as the country’s legitimate leader.
In a joint video last month, Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia backed US military pressure on the Maduro regime as a “necessary measure” towards the “restoration of popular sovereignty in Venezuela.”
They accused Maduro’s government of trafficking “drugs, minerals, metals, weapons and human beings, along with many other crimes.”
Machado has separately said Venezuelan crime gangs were “a real and growing threat to the security and stability” of the Americas.
‘Bring our children home’
Unlike Gonzalez Urrutia, who found exile in Spain after receiving post-election threats, Machado opted to stay in Venezuela to lead the resistance from hiding.
She adopted cloak-and-dagger tactics, popping up unannounced on the back of a truck on a street corner to give a speech before fleeing on the back of a motorcycle to avoid arrest.
An engineer by training, Caracas-born Machado entered politics in 2002 at the head of the association Sumate (Join us), pushing for a referendum to recall Maduro’s mentor, the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.
She was accused of treason over the referendum call and received death threats, prompting her to send her two young sons and daughter to live abroad.
Barred from running in 2023, Machado was also banned from flying and criss-crossed the country by road to campaign for Gonzalez Urrutia with rousing speeches enthusiastically received.
Machado had promised an end to increasingly repressive socialist rule, marked in recent years by a severe economic crisis which has prompted seven million people — nearly a quarter of the population — to emigrate from the once prosperous petro-state.
“We’re going to liberate the country and bring our children home,” she had vowed.
In October, Machado and Gonzalez Urrutia were awarded the European Union’s top human rights prize for having “fearlessly upheld” the values of justice, democracy and the rule of law.
