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Venezue­lan op­po­si­tion leader María Co­ri­na Macha­do won the No­bel Peace Prize on Fri­day, 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.

“In the past year, Ms. Macha­do has been forced to live in hid­ing,” Watne Frydnes said. De­spite se­ri­ous threats against her life, she has re­mained in the coun­try, a choice that has in­spired mil­lions. When au­thor­i­tar­i­ans seize pow­er, it is cru­cial to rec­og­nize coura­geous de­fend­ers of free­dom who rise and re­sist.”