CAIR Condemns Nobel Committee for Awarding Peace Prize to Venezuelan Politician María Corina Machado

CAIR Condemns Nobel Committee for Awarding Peace Prize to Venezuelan Politician María Corina Machado
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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has sharply criticized the Nobel Committee’s decision to award this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, calling the move “unconscionable” and “a betrayal of moral consistency.”

In a statement posted Friday on its official Facebook page, CAIR accused Machado of supporting “Israel’s racist Likud Party” and of participating earlier this year in a European conference that included right-wing figures Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen. The organization said the event “openly called for a new Reconquista,” a term historically associated with the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from Spain in the 15th century.

“The Nobel Peace Prize should go to individuals who bravely advocate justice for all people, not to politicians who support racism, bigotry and fascism abroad,” the post read. CAIR urged Machado to renounce what it described as her “support for the Likud Party and anti-Muslim fascism in Europe,” warning that failure to do so would undermine the prize’s integrity.

The Nobel Committee, in its official announcement, praised Machado as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America,” citing her leadership in uniting Venezuela’s fragmented opposition and her “steadfast commitment to peaceful democratic change.” The committee also noted that she has continued to live in Venezuela despite facing threats and political persecution.

CAIR contrasted this decision with what it called “the moral courage” of students, journalists, and medical workers who have spoken out against “the genocide in Gaza,” arguing that such individuals better represent the ideals of the Peace Prize.

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was announced on October 10 in Oslo, honoring Machado for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela” and for advocating a “peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”