Maria Corina Machado probably spent the last few weeks picking out new curtains and carpet for the Miraflores Palace in Caracas. With Trump openly set on deposing Nicolás Maduro one way, she would have concluded it was a matter of when, not if, she was Venezuela’s next president.
Being awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize would have only bolstered that. The path forward was clear: surf to power on a wave of praise from liberal and conservative media and ingratiate yourself with Trump by selling off your country’s oil reserves.
