How many of you recognize the name Maria Corina Machado? Before today? 99.9% of you have never heard that name. If you have it's because you are from or have family in Venezuela and even then, you probably just recognize it. But she is now the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. You would think that brokering a peace deal in the Middle East on top of stopping the war in Syria and at least for a while getting North Korea to stop development and sale of nuclear weapons might qualify you for the award. Not for the elitists.
Maria Corina was given the award "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." Nobel Committee chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes explained that Machado meets "all the criteria" Alfred Nobel laid out in his will, which says the award should be given to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."
Frydnes went on to say Machado Has been able to unite the opposition factions to provide a unified voice against the tyranny of the current administration in Venezuela. To continually demand that the democratic process be reestablished in a manner that allows for free and open elections as well as supporting rights such as free speech for the average person in her country. She has been a unifying voice for 20 years. So how does this meet the criteria laid out by Alfred Nobel?
She certainly has not worked for fraternity between nations. Her work has been solely in her home country. Any work she has done with other governments has been to garner support for her cause. She certainly hasn't done anything to further the abolition or reduction of standing armies or to spread peace congresses. Donald Trump has done all of that. I'm not denigrating the work that Ms. Machado has done. Anyone able to stand against the current Venezuelan government and stay alive deserves respect. But the fact that we do not know her name, when other names working in similar situations, are much more familiar to us tells me that she hasn't been very successful in bringing worldwide attention to the plight of the Venezuelan people.
There was a tremendous amount of support and pressure on the Nobel committee to award the Peace Prize to Donald Trump. Frydnes admitted that he had heard from a number of world leaders supporting the United States president for the award. The committee just felt that she was more deserving. That's fine with Trump. He said he doesn't engage in the work to bring peace and stop war just to get the Nobel Prize. History will judge his actions and the gratefulness of the people who now live in peace or freedom because of his actions is enough of a reward. This just further exposes the hypocrisy of the world elite who are threatened by a man that truly stands for freedom and against tyranny worldwide.
