OREANDA-NEWS  Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, received the Nobel Peace Prize. This is reported in the press release of the award committee.

"[Maria Corina Machado] receives the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work to promote the democratic rights of the Venezuelan people and for her struggle for a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy," reads the reasoning of the decision.

The committee called Machado a key unifying figure of the Venezuelan opposition and "one of the most outstanding examples of civic courage in Latin America in recent years."

Earlier, the Financial Times newspaper reported that US President Donald Trump is in a hurry to conclude a deal between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas in order to have time to influence the decision of the Nobel Peace Prize committee. According to the newspaper, Trump also tried to put pressure on the Norwegian government, touching on this topic in at least one telephone conversation with Norwegian Finance Minister and former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.