On October 10, 2025, María Corina Machado was announced to be the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado is an opposition leader in Venezuela. Venezuela is a country in South America currently under a non-evidential democracy, and its economy is suffering.
Millions are not aware of the political unrest occurring in this country.
In Venezuela, at the moment, the political situation is in chaos because there is a president who is acting as a dictator, and people all over the world are not sure if the country is in a dictatorship or a democracy.
“I would say things in Venezuela are quite strenuous right now. You have this situation where there is a president in power, and they continue to say that they are being reelected, but we do not see evidence that there is a reelection happening,” said world history and AP Comparative Government teacher Mrs. Chandler.
María Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in combating the rise of authoritarianism in Venezuela. Machado is an opposition leader in Venezuela, explained Chandler. Machado tried to run for president but got disqualified. The National Election Council declared that Nicolás Maduro, the current president of Venezuela, won the presidency, but there was no evidence to support this statement.
Machado has put great effort into fighting for her country, and she has been hiding since January. “Essentially, she is trying to be the opposition voice to Maduro,” said Chandler, “ but standing up to this can be dangerous to seek out. It can be dangerous to speak against this authority and this authoritarianism.” Machado had chances to leave the country and seek exile, but she chose to stand up for her country.
Besides Venezuela having troubles within the country, other countries surrounding it are having issues because Venezuelan citizens are trying to leave.
“Because of rapid inflation and growing poverty, there are a lot of people trying to see if there is a way to pursue work in another country. So one of the big ways other countries are getting affected are the migrants into Colombia,” said Chandler.
Inflation has skyrocketed in Venezuela, and savings are not really useful anymore because the currency has fallen. “Daily life is a struggle, because of rapid inflation, people did have savings in the bank and the value of that has dissipated. They do not necessarily have a way in the government and individual rights have been restricted,” said Chandler.
Venezuela’s economy is mainly based on oil, and limits from other countries are hurting its economy. “Because of oil sanctions, the falling price of oil… and those are getting compounded along with the government mismanagement which is hurting their economy,” said Chandler.
This crisis within Venezuela is being recognized all around the world, especially in America. Chandler explains that The U.S. has been at odds with Venezuela since Hugo Chávez, the former president of Venezuela, took power.
At The Bolles School, the Global Scholars Program focuses on the world and what can be done to fix it.
“One of the things we try not to stress in this global program is not just becoming aware of what is going on in the world, and being interested in the world, but that you are willing to take action on things that you see,” Chandler said. “So if you see a global issue, then you have to reflect on what I can about that.”
