In response to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado winning the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, Atlas Network CEO Brad Lips has issued the following statement:
“I’m thrilled that the world’s attention is now focused on the courage of María Corina Machado and her long pursuit to restore democratic norms and respect for human rights in Venezuela. All of us at Atlas Network celebrate this well-deserved recognition, having followed her commitment to peace and freedom for more than two decades. I appreciate that the Nobel Committee's announcement of her winning the Nobel Peace Prize plainly affirms what we've long held to be true: That Venezuela suffers under a dictatorship and Maria, and her allies in the freedom movement, are working to restore democracy.”
Atlas Network has a long professional relationship with Machado, who gave a speech at the organization’s annual Freedom Dinner in 2009, commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall. Pro-freedom think tanks in Venezuela were among the very first Atlas Network partners in the early 1980s, promoting the ideas behind the movement for human rights and democratic norms in Venezuela that inspire the country's residents to this day. Machado has tirelessly strived to promote democracy and fight dictatorship in her country, and Atlas Network will continue to stand by her side—and alongside all of the world’s freedom’s champions—every step of the way.
