Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as a "wild demoness,” a "war criminal,” and "la Sayona,” a vengeful spirit from the country's folklore.
On Friday morning, that same woman became the first in the country to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She heard the news of her win while still in hiding from the autocrat’s oppressive regime.
It’s historic — and symbolic for the movement that likely would have ended more than two decades of socialist rule had Maduro not refused to accept his apparent election loss.
But the reality is that Machado’s prize is unlikely to help improve the circumstances for her supporters and opposition leaders, whose ranks have thinned under a brutal crackdown that’s sent many to jail or into exile.
Maduro, determined to move past the July 2024 presidential vote — which was widely condemned as fraudulent
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