New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) Amid political turbulence in Venezuela and its standoff with the US, bringing the spectre of conflict – embroiling major parts of the globe – to the Americas too, veteran politician María Corina Machado Parisca, a steadfast and vocal opponent of her country’s strongmen, Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, for over two decades, has become the latest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Industrial engineer-turned-activist-turned-politician Machado, who has stayed in the country when other opposition leaders have fled and been in the public eye, apart from a few months in hiding in late 2024 following an attack, has been awarded “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”.

The 112th individual and the 19th woman (the 10th in the 21st century) Nobel Peace laureate, she is its fourth recipient from South America, but the first woman among them. She has also become the second Venezuelan Nobel awardee.

The announcement of her award comes two days after her 58th birthday.

Holding a degree in industrial engineering and a master’s degree in finance, Machado, then working in the auto industry, entered public life in 1992 when she set up a foundation to care for orphaned street children in Caracas. However, it was almost a decade later that she entered the political fray, when a brief meeting with an activist led to the formation of the volunteer civil society organisation Sumate, tasked with monitoring voting in national elections, in 2001.

Machado, who was propelled by disagreement with the course of the country under Chavez, blaming him for increasing “polarisation” though acknowledging his public support and “the positive things that have been done”, had increasing run-ins with his administration since 2002.

Her signing a decree during the 2002 attempted coup and leading the petition drive for the 2004 recall referendum led to charges of treason and conspiracy, though the trial was suspended and then indefinitely adjourned.

She had also faced a number of physical attacks, blamed on the administration and members of the ruling party.

Machado stood for the National Assembly as a Primero Justicia (Justice First) candidate in the 2010 elections and won with the highest number of votes nationwide. While her membership was cancelled in 2014 for appearing as an alternate envoy at the Organisation of American States (OAS), amid the protests in Venezuela, to speak about the situation in her country, the high point was when she clashed with Chavez in the house.

During the annual State of the Nation Speech delivered by Chavez to the National Assembly in January 2012, Machado took him on, raising questions about the lack of basic goods, the rise of crime, and the policy of nationalising basic industries, contending that “expropriating and not paying is stealing”.

In 2011, she announced her candidacy for the 2012 Presidential election but lost the primary contest to Henrique Capriles Radonski.

After Chavez’s passing away in 2013, Machado continued her opposition to his successor Maduro and continuing socialist-leaning, populist ‘Chavismo’ policies, being one of the leaders of the 2014 anti-Maduro protests.

However, as Maduro strengthened his grip on the country, Machado hosted a weekly talk show and political analysis programme “Contigo: Con María Corina Machado” on Radio Caracas between 2014 and 2021. She had expressed interest in fighting the 2019 elections, if announced, amid the standoff between Maduro and his opposition rival, Juan Guaido, between 2019 and 2023.

However, Maduro remained in power, and her association with Guaido led to the authorities slapping a 15-year political ban on her in 2023. Confirmed by the country’s top court, it ruled her out of the 2024 Presidential elections, where Maduro prevailed over Edmundo Gonzalez, despite widespread allegations of fraud. Targeted by the administration, Gonzalez took refuge in the Spanish Embassy and later went into exile in Spain, while Machado chose to remain despite all the threats and attacks.

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

–IANS

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