Why Machado had to win the Prize

The Trump gang is desperate to get its hands on Venezuela’s rich resources, continuing the long-standing greed of the United States for them. Remember the US policy towards Venezuela after Hugo Chávez was democratically elected president in 1999 and promised to nationalise oil production, which had made the country one of the largest producer, and to distribute the revenues to the people. Remember also what the CIA and its British partner MI6 did in Iran in 1953 after its democratic government decided to nationalise oil. 

In 2002, the CIA instigated a similar regime change in Venezuela by bringing the bourgeois masses onto the streets and inciting military leaders to mutiny, who ultimately threatened to bomb the Palace of the Republic (remember what they did to President Allende in Chile in 1973) if Chávez refused to step down, while a new president was appointed in a sham ceremony and dissolved the government, parliament and key legal institutions. Chávez surrendered to the mutineers but made it clear that he would not resign. Only thanks to millions of people who took to the streets in response to this crime, and thanks to the troops who stood behind the legitimate power, was Chávez released after two days in detention and resumed his leadership role.
An Irish team (remember that the Irish people have experience of British oppression) made an insightful documentary about those days [1].

That’s how, under the presidency of George W. Bush, the US failed completely in its attempt to snatch Venezuela. All they achieved was to strengthen the position of the majority of the people against foreign and domestic oligarchs and their bourgeois entourage. But they did not learn their lesson.

In 2019, the bourgeois-dominated National Assembly declared its president, Juan Guaidó, to be the president of Venezuela, a move welcomed by the US and most European governments, in contrast to the (contested) results of the 2013 and 2018 presidential elections won by Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro.

While I am far from applauding the authoritarian caudillo style of Maduro’s government, I also see the reasons why the Bolivarian Revolution has taken this path: due to growing pressure from external and internal power groups seeking to exploit the country’s resources for private profit. We should also not forget that since its independence after the wars of 1810 to 1823, Venezuela’s history has been marked by a constant succession of rulers, caudillos, military regimes, and revolutionary movements. The oil production that began about a hundred years ago has only exacerbated the conflicts of interest within society.

Now Trump enters the stage, the self-proclaimed deal and peace maker. In order to prepare for a takeover in Venezuela, he deployed the US Navy to intercept and destroy ships leaving Venezuelan ports, claiming they had drugs and terrorists on board [1] [2], and continues to threaten Maduro’s regime in other ways.

At the same time, Trump made it abundantly clear that he was THE candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Just because he’s crazy? Perhaps there was something else behind it. Having profiled himself so strongly as the most suitable candidate, he put himself in a position to negotiate with the Nobel Committee. Look, folks, I know I’m really the one who deserves this prize, but I’m willing to withdraw my candidacy if you choose this courageous woman Machado, and I’m willing to donate a really large sum to the Nobel Committee. Deal?

With the clearly far right Venezuelan opposition leader as Nobel Prize winner (we can only guess who nominated her), Trump secured a reason to invade Venezuela to save her from the brutal Maduro regime and finally get what he and his predecessors always wanted: the bloody oil!

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Sources:
[1] The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5nzZU0qCc
[2] International maritime law under US attack: https://blog.think.fish/?p=1317
[3] In Venezuela, Trump Is Engaged in Plain and Simple Murder: https://jacobin.com/2025/09/venezuela-killings-war-terror-trump