Nobel Peace Prize 2025: Maria Corina Machado's 2010 post on X, quoting Mahatma Gandhi goes viral

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on 10 October, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness”.

The former opposition presidential candidate was lauded for being a “key, unifying figure" in the once deeply divided opposition to President Nicolás Maduro's government, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

US President Donald Trump missed out on the chance to bag the honour despite very powerful lobbying with him himself terming him a contender. Soon after Machado was declared the eventual winner, the White House criticised the Nobel Prize committee's decision, accusing the Nobel Committee of placing politics over peace.

"President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives. He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will," White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a post on X.

What was the Mahatma Gandhi quote?

While social media was abuzz with the award, particularly the snub to President Trump, netizens shared Machado's 2010 post praising Mahatma Gandhi. The quote in Spanish was posted on X on 2 May 2010. It loosely translates to ‘Almost everything I do will be insignificant, but it is very important that I do it’ in English.

This saying by Mahatma Gandhi suggests that while an individual action may seem small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, it is still crucial to take action.

Mahatma Gandhi and the Nobel Peace Prize

Incidentally, Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most iconic figures of non-violence in the 20th century, was widely considered a deserving recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Gandhi was nominated several times, but was never awarded the prize.

Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948.

The exclusion of Mahatma Gandhi from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is a result of intricate and diverse factors. One of the main challenges was that Gandhi did not conform to the conventional criteria established by the Nobel Committee for potential awardees.

The committee's perspective was that he did not fall into the categories of a politician or advocate for international law, and he was not primarily involved in humanitarian relief efforts or the organisation of international peace gatherings.

Who is Maria Corina Machado?

Maria Corina Machado has led the struggle for democracy in Venezuela, according to the Nobel Peace Prize committee's website.

Born in 1967, Machado has been at the forefront of the fight for democracy amid growing authoritarianism in Venezuela. She is the leader of the opposition in the country.

Machado studied engineering and finance and briefly worked in business. In 1992, she founded the Atenea Foundation, which aims to support street children in Caracas.

(With agency inputs)