Venezuelans divided over Nobel winner

[Nobel, from A1]

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MAR MARÍA Corina Machado holds up vote tally sheets at a protest against President Nicolás Maduro in 2024.

(ARIANA CUBILLOS Associated Press)

The mixed reactions to Machado’s award, both in Venezuela and across the continent, reflect the complicated politics and shifting alliances in the region.

The conservative president of Argentina and the leftist leader of Colombia both congratulated Machado. Cuba denounced as “shameful” the decision to honor “a person who instigates military intervention in her Homeland.” Mexico's leftist President Claudia Sheinbaum, the region’s top woman leader, declined to comment.

Some observers wonder whether the award could encourage more aggressive U.S. behavior against Maduro, whom the White House has branded a “narco-terrorist.”

There was no immediate official reaction in Venezuela to Machado’s award. The news generated international headlines but was ignored by official news channels.

On social media, Machado declared that the opposition was “on the threshold of victory,” and pointedly dispatched verbal bouquets to Trump.

“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!” Machado wrote.

It was a nod to a president who had campaigned openly for the award for himself and was clearly indignant that he lost out. The White House complained that the Nobel Committee had chosen “politics over peace.”

In an apparent bid at conciliation, Machado reached out by telephone to Trump.

“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me, and said, ‘I'm accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it,’” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office. “It’s a very nice thing to do. I didn’t say, ‘Then give it to me,’ though I think she might have. She was very nice.”