US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s role in nominating Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize has drawn attention again after she was announced as this year’s laureate. Rubio had co-signed a letter in 2024 urging the Norwegian Nobel Committee to recognise Machado’s “courageous and selfless leadership” in her fight for democracy against President Nicols Maduro’s regime.

The letter — signed by Rubio, then a senator, along with fellow Republican lawmakers Mike Waltz, Rick Scott, Mario Daz-Balart, Maria Elvira Salazar, Neal Dunn, Byron Donalds, and Carlos Gimenez — praised Machado for “risking everything to rally the previously flagging spirits of the Venezuelan people.”

“She has remained steadfast in her commitment to restoring democratic governance in V

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