The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has made it clear that the prize cannot be handed over or distributed to anyone after it has been announced.
What you should know
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has presented her Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump.
She presented the medal to Trump during a private meeting at the White House on Thursday. Machado presented the Nobel Prize to Trump a few weeks after the US military took control of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. She explained the move by linking it to the 200-year-old historical relationship between the US and Venezuela.
She recalled the historical event when the Marquis de Lafayette, a warrior of the American War of Independence, gave a medal with a portrait of George Washington to Venezuelan founder Simón Bolívar, saying, “Two hundred years later, the descendants of Bolívar have returned the Nobel Prize to Washington’s successor for his commitment to our freedom.”
However, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has made it clear that the prize cannot be handed over or shared after it is announced. Earlier, the committee expressed dissatisfaction when Machado announced that she would give her medal to Trump. The committee said in a statement, “Once the Nobel Prize is announced, its ownership and decision are final and permanent. It cannot be handed over or shared with anyone.’
The Trump administration has begun to expand its influence in Venezuela’s oil sector since Maduro’s ouster. On Wednesday alone, the US said it had sold $500 million worth of Venezuelan oil. Meanwhile, envoys close to Rodriguez have arrived in Washington and preparations are reportedly underway to reopen the Venezuelan embassy.
