Although the White House immediately put the Nobel Committee on notice for putting “politics over peace” when it failed to deliver the peace prize to United States President Donald Trump, the administration had to be pleased that the award went to Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado . Trump and Machado are cut from the same right-wing authoritarian cloth, which in part explains why the president quickly congratulated her, and why Machado, in turn, dedicated her award to him.

As a leader of Venezuela’s hardline right-wing opposition, Machado has been committed to a brand of peace that has sought to undermine Venezuelan democracy and sovereignty for more than a quarter of a century. In 2002, she helped orchestrate a coup against Hugo Chavez, the democratically elected president at the time.

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