Days after the U.S. ordered the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a military operation that left dozens dead, opposition leader María Corina Machado reappeared in an interview with Fox News to express her gratitude for the intervention of U.S. President Donald Trump.
However, María Corina has surprised even diplomatic circles by proposing to "share" with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to him in 2025.
“Since this is the award of the Venezuelan people, we certainly want to give it to them and share it with them”, declared the Venezuelan opposition leader, referring to Trump as the central figure in what she called “a great step towards democratic transition.”
Machado also reiterated that she had wanted to dedicate the award to Trump from the very beginning.
“As soon as we received the award, I wanted to dedicate it to President Trump. If I thought he deserved it in October, just imagine now,” he stated emphatically.
The Background: The Capture of Maduro and the Cooling Relationship with Trump
Machado's interview did not occur in a political vacuum.
Since the U.S. government carried out a military operation on Venezuelan territory on January 3—culminating in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and resulting in numerous casualties—the political landscape in Caracas has undergone a dramatic shift.
However, against all odds, Trump rejected Machado leading the transition, stating that she "does not have the necessary support or respect within the country."
According to The Washington Post, Trump would have withdrawn his support for the opposition figure after learning that she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, an award he has coveted for years.
“Trump considers it an unforgivable sin that Machado did not decline the award,” sources close to the White House reported to the mentioned outlet.
This decision would have tipped the scales towards a Chavista alternative for the transition, led by the vice president and now acting president, Delcy Rodríguez.
Despite the tension, Machado has avoided direct confrontation with Trump.
On the contrary, he has multiplied his gestures of admiration towards the American president.
During the interview with Fox News, Machado not only praised the military operation
“What he has done is historic”, he said, but he also tried to symbolically offer him the most prestigious award in the world.
The Nobel Institute's Rejection: "The decision is forever"
The response from the Nobel Committee came swiftly.
This Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Erik Aasheim, put an end to the controversy.
"A Nobel Prize cannot be revoked or transferred to others. Once the laureate or laureates have been announced, the decision is final." he declared to the EFE agency.
While the representative clarified that the awardees can freely utilize the prize money— which could be interpreted as a symbolic economic concession to Trump— he made it clear that the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize still exclusively belongs to María Corina Machado.
In other words, it doesn't matter how fervent the intention to share it is or whom it is dedicated to: the Nobel is not transferable.
A strategy to regain lost favor?
Since accepting the award, Machado has tried to mend her relationship with Trump.
According to his own testimony on Fox News, the last time they spoke was on October 10, the day the Nobel was announced.
Since then, he has not received any communication from the American president.
In her most recent intervention, the opposition leader has spared no praise for the U.S. military intervention, referring to January 3 as a historic date.
“January 3 will go down in history as the day when justice triumphed over tyranny,” he said.
Additionally, he promised that Venezuela, under a new order, would become “the main ally of the United States” in the region.
Critiques, tensions, and consequences
This symbolic offer has been interpreted by analysts as an act of political and diplomatic submission to Trump, in an attempt to regain Washington's support to lead the transition in Venezuela.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a recent CIA report ultimately convinced the former U.S. president that Machado was not a viable option for leadership.
The contents of that report have not been disclosed, but everything suggests that their acceptance of the Nobel would have been decisive.
Meanwhile, Machado avoids confrontation. He has not directly responded to Trump's accusations nor questioned the Republican's preference for a figure associated with chavismo like Delcy Rodríguez.
On the other hand, it seems determined to adapt to the new geopolitical landscape, even if that means relinquishing prominence or publicly humiliating itself.
What’s next for Machado?
Amidst the institutional collapse and the redefinition of leadership in Venezuela, María Corina Machado has temporarily lost the political momentum that earned her recognition from the international community.
Although his Nobel Peace Prize remains intact, the gesture of trying to share it with Trump has been seen by many as a desperate maneuver to regain influence.
The gesture was symbolically strong, but legally null. And the Nobel Committee, as it has categorically reminded us, does not consider sharing awards after the fact or rewriting its history once it is written.
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