Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado wins Nobel Peace Prize despite intense Donald Trump campaign
London: Venezuelan peace advocate Maria Corina Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to secure a lasting peace in Gaza, following an intense lobbying campaign by US President Donald Trump to determine this year’s winner.
Trump publicly sought the award this year and has repeatedly said he should win it, but the awards committee may not give it to him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the award to be given to Donald Trump.Credit: Bloomberg
When asked Thursday about his chances of winning the award, Trump said he had ended eight wars, including the conflict in Gaza, but did not do so to win the award.
“Whatever they do, they have to do. Whatever they do is fine,” he said of the Nobel committee.
“I know this: I didn’t do it for that reason, I did it because I saved a lot of lives.”
The day before the decision, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office supported Trump for the award on social media, saying: “Give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize, he deserves it!”
According to Anadolu Agency, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also said that Trump “deserves the Nobel Peace Prize” for the peace agreement.
In August, Trump had a surprise phone call with Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, the former NATO secretary general, and said he wanted the award.
Critics took issue with his claims to end eight wars; for example, he stated that despite his claims about peace, war continued between Congo and Rwanda. India does not accept Trump’s decision to end its recent conflict with Pakistan. However, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev jointly approved Trump’s award in August for his role in ending their dispute.
