Nobel Committee says Peace Prize ‘inseparable’ from laureate after Machado gives medal to Trump
The Nobel Peace Prize remains tied to the person who won it, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, a day after this year’s laureate, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, presented her medal to U.S. President Donald Trump.
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“Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,” the committee said. It added that there are no restrictions on what laureates do with their medal, diploma or prize money.
Machado gave her gold medal to Trump “on behalf of the people of Venezuela,” saying, “He deserves it.” The gesture came after she publicly dedicated the award to the former U.S. president following last month’s Nobel ceremony in Oslo.
The committee said it would make no comment “on Peace Prize laureates or the political processes that they are engaged in,” and noted that there have been previous instances of laureates selling or gifting their medals.
In addition to the gold medal, Machado’s prize consisted of a diploma and 11 million Swedish crowns, approximately €1 million.
Machado was honored “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to the award citation. She appeared in Oslo to collect the prize after what supporters described as a daring escape by boat from Venezuela.
The White House on Thursday posted a photo of Trump and Machado, with the president holding a large, gold-colored frame displaying the Nobel medal. A White House official said the president intends to keep it.
Trump had campaigned publicly to win last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, citing what he described as efforts to stop eight wars. The prize instead went to Machado, who subsequently dedicated it to him.
While reaffirming that the Peace Prize is inseparable from its laureate, the Nobel Committee underscored that the physical symbols of the award are the recipient’s to handle as they choose — whether kept, sold, or given away.
Machado has previously insisted she will be elected president “when the right time comes,” despite the United States sidelining her after overthrowing Nicolás Maduro. Trump has backed Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim leader of the oil-rich country following the Jan. 3 U.S. military operation to seize Maduro.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
