THE recent award of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuela's opposition leader María Coria Machado could usher in change in the South American country, international relations experts predict.

Machado was selected by the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee on October 10 for what it said was her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.

Former Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies director Professor Anthony Bryan and University of Alberta professor Andy Knight agree that the award lends further credibility to Machado's opposition to the Nicholas Maduro administration, which is not recognised by many countries, including the United States.