Maria Corina Machado

Some Lesser Known Facts About Maria Corina Machado

• María Corina Machado comes from a well-known Venezuelan family. Her father, steel businessman Henrique Machado Zuloaga, was the nephew of Armando Zuloaga, who was killed in an uprising against Venezuelan dictator Juan Vicente Gómez.

  

• She is also a descendant of Sebastián José Antonio Rodríguez del Toro y Ascanio, the 3rd Marquis of Toro (1739–1787).

• In addition, she is the great-great-granddaughter of writer Eduardo Blanco, the great-great-niece of painter Martín Tovar y Tovar, and the great-grandniece of industrialist Ricardo Zuloaga.

• In 1992, she founded Fundación Atenea, an organisation supporting orphaned and at-risk children.

• Later, she became chairperson of the Oportunitas Foundation, which worked on education and social development.

• In 2002, Machado co-founded Súmate, a non-profit organisation promoting democracy and fair elections in Venezuela. Súmate helped organise the 2004 national recall referendum against President Hugo Chávez.

• That same year, the Venezuelan government accused her of treason for receiving funds from the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy.

• In 2005, she met U.S. President George W. Bush to discuss democratic reforms.

• In 2009, she attended Yale University as part of its World Fellows Program. In the early 1990s, Machado worked in Venezuela’s automobile industry.

• Machado entered formal politics in 2010 and was elected to the National Assembly. She received one of the highest vote counts among all candidates.

• As a member of parliament between 2011 and 2014, she criticised government corruption and economic mismanagement.

• In March 2014, she addressed the Organisation of American States about human rights violations in Venezuela. Soon after, she was removed from parliament by Assembly President Diosdado Cabello without proper legal procedure.

• In 2013, she founded her political party, Vente Venezuela, which promotes free markets, human rights, and limited government control.

• Machado’s policies include privatising state-owned companies, legalising same-sex marriage, and regulating medical cannabis.

• She supports international sanctions against the Maduro government and closer relations with democratic nations.

• In 2017, she co-founded SoyVenezuela along with Antonio Ledezma and Diego Arria. The platform brought together opposition groups seeking democratic reform and free elections.

• In 2023, Machado contested the opposition presidential primary election and won with a large margin. However, in 2024, the Venezuelan government barred her from running for president for 15 years.

  

• Authorities accused her of corruption and supporting opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Machado nominated academic Corina Yoris as her replacement, but the regime blocked her registration.

• Later, the opposition coalition selected diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia as its final candidate with Machado’s support.

• Independent observers and opposition groups reported that González won the 2024 election. The Maduro government refused to release full results and stayed in power.

• After the election, Machado and her allies faced criminal charges, public threats, and surveillance. She was accused of plotting coups and faced physical attacks during public events.

• In early 2025, security forces attempted to detain her during a public rally. Since then, she has been living in hiding for more than 14 months.

• Her ex-husband, businessman Ricardo Sosa Branger, left Venezuela due to political threats. Machado has three children – Ana Corina, Ricardo, and Henrique. Her sons live abroad for safety reasons, while her daughter remains with her in Venezuela.

• On 10 October 2025, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded María Corina Machado the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize included 11 million Swedish kronor, a Nobel medal, and an official diploma.

• The committee recognised her efforts to promote democratic rights and a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy. It described her as one of the leading democratic figures in Latin America.

• The Nobel Committee said Machado united a divided opposition and encouraged peaceful democratic participation. During the 2024 election, her supporters organised thousands of volunteers as election observers.

• They documented the real vote counts before the government’s interference and published the results showing an opposition victory.

• The Maduro regime refused to acknowledge those results. Venezuela remains in a political and economic crisis, with over eight million people having left the country.

• The opposition continues to face censorship, arrests, and restrictions on political activity. Machado is still considered the key leader of Venezuela’s democratic opposition movement.

• Machado identifies as a centrist liberal who opposes socialism and Chavismo. She supports the rule of law, free elections, and international cooperation.

• She is a signatory of the Madrid Charter, a document opposing authoritarian regimes in Latin America. Machado has received several international recognitions. She was named a Yale World Fellow in 2009.

• In her first reaction on social media, Machado thanked the people of Venezuela for the award. She also mentioned U.S. President Donald Trump in two separate posts.

• She said Venezuela now depends on President Trump and the United States to achieve freedom and democracy.

• She added that democratic nations across Latin America and the world are Venezuela’s allies. In another post, Machado said she dedicates the Nobel Peace Prize to the people of Venezuela and to President Trump.

• She praised Trump for his decisive support of their democratic cause. She repeated that Venezuela stands on the threshold of victory and relies on the U.S. and allied nations.

• On 11 October 2025, CNN reported that Trump spoke directly with Machado after the Nobel announcement.

• Machado confirmed the conversation in an interview with El País but did not share details. She again expressed gratitude to Trump during the interview.

• Trump later told reporters that Machado called him and said she accepted the award in his honour. He described the call as very nice and said he has been helping her along the way.

• After the Nobel announcement, some world leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, criticised the committee’s decision.

• Putin said that previous winners had done little for peace but praised Trump for trying to resolve long-term conflicts. Trump thanked Putin in a post on his Truth Social account after those remarks.