María Corina Machado’s Nobel Speech Read in Oslo by Daughter: A Call for Venezuela’s Return to Democracy

Ana Corina Sosa Machado accepted the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on behalf of her mother, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. María Corina has been living in hiding for 16 months and did not attend the ceremony in person; her daughter said she plans to travel to Oslo to embrace family members she has not seen in two years and will subsequently return to Venezuela.

Why the Nobel Committee Honored Machado

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Machado the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." Committee Chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes described her as "a brave and committed champion of peace." Ana Corina Sosa Machado delivered her mother’s prepared remarks at the ceremony in Oslo.

Full Remarks Delivered in Oslo (Read on Behalf of María Corina Machado)

In the speech Ana Corina read for her mother, María Corina Machado recounts Venezuela’s historical democratic roots, the rise and corruption of the regime that dismantled democratic institutions, and the civic movement that mobilized primaries and defended election results in 2023–24.

"I have come here to tell you a story: the story of a people and their long march toward freedom."

The speech traces Venezuela’s civic achievements—from its early 19th-century constitution to its 20th-century cultural and scientific advances—and highlights how oil wealth, when concentrated in the state, fostered corruption, patronage and the erosion of institutions.

The Civic Movement and the 2023–24 Elections

Machado describes how opposition forces organized a nationwide primary on October 22, 2023, to unify democratic voters after years of repression. The primaries, she says, reawakened public confidence in the vote and mobilized the diaspora to participate.

Her account of July 28, 2024, Election Day details a dramatic effort to secure and transmit official tally sheets (actas) from remote polling stations. According to the speech, volunteers and a nationwide civic network — some 600,000 volunteers across roughly 30,000 polling stations — used technology (QR scanning apps, Starlink antennas, laptops and encrypted channels) and low-tech methods (hand delivery, mules, canoes) to collect and protect the actas. The speech asserts that Edmundo González Urrutia won with 67% of the vote nationwide.

Repression After the Vote

Machado’s speech accuses the regime of a brutal post-election crackdown. It describes thousands of detentions and alleged abuses: the economy’s collapse by more than 80%, poverty exceeding 86%, nine million people displaced, and post-election reprisals affecting civilians, religious leaders and activists. The speech cites reports that some 2,500 people were kidnapped, disappeared or tortured and that more than 220 children were detained and allegedly abused. It also notes that the United Nations has documented serious human-rights violations and labeled some actions as crimes against humanity.

These claims are recounted as part of Machado’s address and attributed to her account of events and to international human-rights reporting cited in the speech.

A Vision for Transition

Despite the repression, the speech is resolutely hopeful. Machado frames the movement as a moral and civic renewal: democracy is described not as a static condition but as a daily, collective choice. She calls for an orderly, peaceful transition to restore the rule of law, release political prisoners and reunite families who fled the country.

She honors political prisoners, persecuted families, civil-society volunteers, journalists, artists and the countless anonymous Venezuelans who risked everything. The speech concludes with a vow that "Venezuela will breathe again," promising open prisons, returning families, free debate and the simple joys of daily life.

Context and Attribution

This article summarizes and refines the speech Ana Corina Sosa Machado read in Oslo on behalf of her mother. Numerical claims in the speech (economic collapse percentages, displacement and repression figures) are presented as Machado’s account and as reported by organizations she cites; independent verification of every figure should be sought from primary sources such as United Nations reports and international human-rights monitors.

Key Facts: María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize; Ana Corina Sosa Machado delivered the speech in Oslo; Machado has been in hiding for 16 months and is expected to briefly travel to Norway before returning to Venezuela; the speech recounts mass civic mobilization, an alleged electoral victory for Edmundo González Urrutia, and a severe post-election crackdown documented by international bodies.