As widely predicted, Donald Trump did not win this year's prize.
He wasn't even on the shortlist of nominees.
He is reported to be livid!
"Serves the arrogant b*****d right", I say.
Trump loses his cool! [Red Bubble]
Nobel Peace Prize 2025
The winner was announced yesterday, 10 October 2025, in Oslo, Norway. The honour was awarded to a brave and committed champion of peace – to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.
Maria Corina Machado
Maria Corina Machado, leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, works tirelessly to promote democratic rights for the people of Venezuela in her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
[Photo of Ms Machado courtesy of El Confidencial]
Background
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, as the few at the top enrich themselves. The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country’s own citizens.
As a result nearly 8 million Venezuelans have left the country. The opposition has been systematically suppressed by means of election rigging, illegal prosecution and imprisonment.
As a founder of Súmate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, Ms Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago.
As she said: “It was a choice of ballots over bullets.”
In political office and in her service to organisations since then, Ms Machado has spoken out for judicial independence, human rights and popular representation. She has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people.
[Logo courtesy of YouTube]
Ahead of the election of 2024, Ms 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. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers mobilised across political divides.
They were trained as election observers to ensure a transparent and fair election. Despite the risk of harassment, arrest and torture, citizens across the country held watch over the polling stations. They made sure the final tallies were documented before the regime could destroy ballots and lie about the outcome.
The efforts of the collective opposition, both before and during the election, were innovative and brave, peaceful and democratic. The opposition received international support when its leaders publicised the vote counts that had been collected from the country’s election districts, showing that the opposition had won by a clear margin.
But the regime of Nicolás Maduro refused to accept the election result, and clung to power.
The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation.
In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair.
Nicolás Maduro [Wikipedia]
In its long history, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has honoured brave women and men who have stood up to repression, who have carried the hope of freedom in prison cells, on the streets and in public squares, and who have shown by their actions that peaceful resistance can change the world.
In the past year, Ms 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.
[Image courtesy of Facebook]
Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended – with words, with courage and with determination.
Maria Corina Machado meets all three criteria stated in Alfred Nobel’s will for the selection of a Peace Prize laureate. She has brought her country’s opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy.
[Photo of Alfred Nobel by Amazon]
STOP PRESS: It is reported that Ms Machado has been gaoled. Let us hope she is safe. The question is: Will she be allowed to attend the presentation ceremony in Oslo in December?
And Trump?
Some commentators think he might be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize next year, if the ceasefire in the Middle East holds.
If he achieves that it will be "a wonderful thing" (Trump's own words), but what about some of his other actions in the past and the present?
I don't think so ..... !
[Cartoon courtesy of Shutterstock]
© Paul Whitelock
Sources:
BBC News
Nobel Peace Prize 2025 - Press release - NobelPrize.org - with special thanks
Sky News International
Wikipedia
Images:
Amazon, El Confidencial, Facebook, Red Bubble, Shutterstock, Wikipedia, YouTube
Tags:
Amazon, democracy, Donald Trump, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, El Confidencial, Facebook, Maria Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize 2025, Norway, Oslo, Paul Whitelock, Red Bubble, Shutterstock, Súmate, Venezuela, Wikipedia, YouTube