Venezuelan opposition leader and newly minted Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado added fuel to the controversies surrounding her, saying she would move her country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if elected president.
"I believe and I can announce that our government will move our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem," Machado said in an interview with an Israeli channel on Friday.
"I promise one day, we'll have a close relationship between Venezuela and Israel. That will be part of our support to the State of Israel,” she added.
In 2009, Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez, severed diplomatic relations with Israel and expelled the Israeli ambassador in protest against the 2008-2009 Gaza War.
In September, Machado became a vocal advocate for U.S. President Donald Trump’s military expansion in the Caribbean, sharing his view that Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro represents a significant security risk to the region.
"This is about saving lives,” she had said in an interview with Fox News last month following the U.S. bombardment of suspected drug boats in the Caribbean.
"Not only Venezuelan lives, but also lives of American people, because as you have said, and we have heard, Maduro is the head of a narco-terrorist structure of cooperation," she said.
Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her "fight to restore democracy in Venezuela."
She is now at the center of controversy over her support for Israel and her calls for foreign intervention in her country.
The Nobel Committee hailed Machado as a "champion of peace" and a "key, unifying figure in a political opposition once divided."
Committee Chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said Machado’s courage had "kept the flame of democracy burning in Venezuela amid growing darkness.”
He praised her for "remaining in the country despite serious threats against her life," calling her a symbol of resistance to authoritarianism.
Criticism, however, quickly followed. Many pointed to Machado’s past statements backing Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, accusing her of supporting the genocide in Gaza.
In one resurfaced post, Machado wrote, "The struggle of Venezuela is the struggle of Israel," later calling Israel a "genuine ally of freedom."
Bjornar Moxnes, a Norwegian lawmaker, noted that Machado had signed a cooperation document with Likud in 2020, saying this "makes the award inconsistent with Nobel's purpose."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also condemned the selection, calling it an "unconscionable decision" that "undermines the Nobel Committee’s reputation."
Machado has also been criticized for a 2018 letter to Israeli and Argentinian leaders urging support to "advance in the dismantling of the criminal Venezuelan regime."
The backlash intensified after U.S. President Donald Trump – whose administration earlier accused the Nobel Committee of "placing politics over peace," as Trump promoted himself as deserving of the prize – said he was "happy for her" when Machado dedicated her award to him.
