STORY: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 10), sparking celebrations among Venezuelan diaspora communities across Latin America hailing the recognition as a symbol of their struggle for freedom.

In Chile, hundreds of Venezuelans gathered to chant "Freedom" and wave their national flag. "This is a Nobel Prize that is currently touching the hearts of 9.5 million Venezuelans who were forced to leave our country," said Alexander Maita, director of the Comando Venezuela organization in Chile.

Similar celebrations erupted in Mexico City, where Venezuelans marched with a flag.

Bolivian presidential candidate Jorge Quiroga praised Machado as "indomitable" and "unbreakable," in a video posted on his X account.

Machado, a 58-year-old industrial engineer who currently lives in hiding, received the award for fighting dictatorship in Venezuela despite being blocked by the country's courts from running for president in 2024 against President Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power since 2013.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: SANTIAGO, CHILE (OCTOBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VENEZUELANS LIVING IN CHILE CHANTING "FREEDOM" WHILE THEY CELEBRATE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR VENEZUELAN POLITICAL LEADER MARIA CORINA MACHADO

2. VENEZUELAN CITIZENS GATHERED

3. VARIOUS OF VENEZUELAN CITIZENS HOLDING PHOTO OF MACHADO AND VENEZUELAN FLAG

4. VENEZUELAN CITIZENS GATHERED

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR OF COMANDO VENEZUELA (VENEZUELA COMMAND) ORGANIZATION IN CHILE, ALEXANDER MAITA, SAYING:

"Everyone will remember this Nobel Peace Prize because it is a Nobel Prize that is currently touching the hearts of 9.5 million Venezuelans who were forced to leave our country, and of Venezuelans who remain within our country. This is a symbol of resistance."

6. PERSON WITH VENEZUELAN FLAG

7. VARIOUS OF VENEZUELAN CITIZENS GATHERED

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEMBER OF COMANDO VENEZUELA (VENEZUELA COMMAND) ORGANIZATION IN CHILE, ENDER SANDREA, SAYING:

"The people of Venezuela are celebrating: we are close to freedom, we have the minutes, we have two saints who will be beatified, we have the Nobel Peace Prize, and we are close to having freedom in our country, coming soon."

9. VARIOUS OF VENEZUELAN CITIZENS GATHERED

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (OCTOBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

10. VARIOUS OF VENEZUELANS LIVING IN MEXICO MARCHING AND HOLDING VENEZUELAN FLAG

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COORDINATOR OF ORGANIZATION 20 MEXICO, LIDIA ESCOBAR, SAYING:

"For us, this award represents the love of the people, the struggle of a people, the courage of a people. We are going to achieve and conquer the freedom we have been working for for years. Maria Corina has been the torch, and we are the fire that keeps us standing firm here, moving forward, believing that it will happen and that it is happening."

12. VARIOUS OF VENEZUELANS LIVING IN MEXICO MARCHING AND HOLDING VENEZUELAN FLAG, CHANTING (Spanish) "FREEDOM"

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COORDINATOR OF COMANDO VENEZUELA (VENEZUELA COMMAND) ORGANIZATION IN MEXICO, EDSON MARTINEZ, SAYING:

"Maria Corina has been synonymous with fighting for the values that the world wants, the values of democracy, respect, and respecting the rules of the Venezuelan people. The Venezuelan people are unarmed, except for the ballots from July 28 (the 2024 presidential elections). We are convinced that we can claim our rights as citizens and, of course, achieve the goals we are pursuing through the natural processes of living in a society, which is what we really want."

14. VENEZUELANS LIVING IN MEXICO MARCHING, CHANTING (Spanish) "LONG LIVE VENEZUELA"

15. VENEZUELANS CHANTING (Spanish) "LONG LIVE MARIA CORINA"

UNKNOWN LOCATION, BOLIVIA (OCTOBER 10, 2025) (JORGE QUIROGA - Must on screen courtesy Jorge Quiroga) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT)

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOLIVIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, JORGE QUIROGA, SAYING:

"My pride, my happiness, and my warm embrace go out to the indomitable, unbreakable, the one and only: the great Maria Corina Machado. With the humility that has always characterized her, the first thing she did was thank her Venezuelan people, and she is right. They are a stoic people, from whom came Bolivar (Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar), who gave us Bolivians freedom, a name, and independence. That is why we feel that this Nobel Prize belongs to the land of Bolivar and to the children of Bolivar here in Bolivia."