A carnival of reaction gathered to celebrate the Nobel Peace prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway on 10 December. The decision of the Nobel Peace committee to award this year’s ‘laureate’ to the Venezuelan far right’s poster girl, Maria Corina Machado, has proved the most controversial since the prize went to US Secretary of state Henry Kissinger in 1973. Raining on her parade, over a thousand protesters gathered to oppose Machado across several days of activities.
Machado, whose NGO ‘Sumate’ has received millions in funding from USAID, has a long history of involvement in violence and destabilisation in Venezuela:
- 2002: Signed the ‘Carmona decree’ dissolving Venezuela’s elected parliament and constitution during the failed coup against Hugo Chavez.
- 2013: Signed the leaked ‘Strategic Venezuelan Plan’ which sought to create shortages of basic goods, amplify social discontent, causing death and injuries ‘wherever possible’.
- 2014: Headed ‘la Salida’ campaign which left 43 people dead as opposition gangs set up ‘guarimba’ roadblocks hanging steel wire traps and using snipers.
- 2017: Backed a further ‘guarimba’ campaign which left people 58 dead including Orlando Figuera, a black Chavista who was burned alive.
- 2019: Backed the coup attempted launched by ‘interim President’ Juan Guaido.
- 2024: Paid thugs in dollars and drugs to engage in street violence and arson after the July Presidential election leaving 27 people dead.
On the international stage Machado is an open supporter of Zionism, backing genocide in Gaza, signing an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in 2020. Machado addressed the ‘Patriots of Europe’ 2025 conference in Madrid, calling for the ethnic cleansing of Muslims via a ‘reconquista’ of Europe alongside Geert Wilders, Marie Le Pen and Viktor Orban.
Today Machado is cheer-leading US airstrikes on fishing boats that have killed over 85 people under the guise of fighting ‘narco-terrorism’. She welcomed the arrival of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford to the Caribbean after repeatedly calling for a US invasion of Venezuela and enforce further unilateral coercive measures or ‘sanctions’ on Venezuela as part of her regime change activities. The Nobel peace prize committee decision to award her the prize is a cover for war on Venezuela. Fittingly, Machado dedicated it to US President Donald Trump.
Joining the ceremony was Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa and Colombia’s former President Ivan Duque. This is the epitome of hypocrisy. Under Duque’s presidency (2018-2022) repeated massacres by state backed paramilitaries left over 1,100 people dead whilst 930 social leaders and activists were assassinated. Milei has signed a memorandum with Israel, slashed spending for healthcare and public services and welcomed a build-up of US troops in the Southern cone. Noboa, whose banana business has been at the centre of a narco-trafficking scandal, has cracked down on indigenous and working class protest in Ecuador. His militarised ‘phoenix plan’ is responsible for forced disappearances including four black teenagers whose charred remains were eventually found.
Balking at this rank hypocrisy, the Norwegian peace council refused to organise the traditional torchlight procession in protest. Instead NGO ‘Norwegian Venezuelan Justice Alliance’, aligned to Machado’s ‘Vente Venezuela’ party, stepped in to save face. Supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Group joined Norwegian and European socialist and anti war groups in Oslo to ensure that the Peace Prize events were protested at every stage.
Hiding behind a dubious ‘escape’ story from Venezuela, Machado did not attend the Nobel Peace prize ceremony in person, sending her daughter to collect her prize. Indeed, she did not show her face until 2.30am on Wednesday 10 December in front of a carefully choreographed group of supporters, long after protests had dissipated.
We must continue speaking out against the propaganda blitz that is preparing public opinion for war on Venezuela. Presenting Machado as a champion of peace against a dictatorial regime is part of this media war. The reality is that Maduro has been democratically elected three times since 2013 thanks to widespread popular support for the gains of the Bolivarian revolution which includes; universal free healthcare, free university, over 5 million units of social housing built and distributed to the poorest, alongside a flourishing system of participatory democracy being built through communes organising in working class areas. The US, Britain and Europe have orchestrated coup attempts throughout the 26 years of the Bolivarian Revolution, refusing to recognise Venezuela’s sovereignty and imposing illegal sanctions on the country. British companies BAE systems and Rolls-Royce produce parts and munitions used by the US in their war against Venezuela whilst the Bank of England has stolen over 31 tonnes of Venezuela’s gold.
Britain is complicit! Join us on the streets – Hands off Venezuela! No war for oil!
PROTEST: Hands off Venezuela!
LONDON Saturday 20 December, 1pm assemble @ Trafalgar Square: Instagram post
