The Nobel Peace Prize has gone from being “an instrument of peace” to “an instrument of war.” This is the thesis defended by the activist and founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, for having awarded the famous award to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Assange, according to a statement made public by Wikileaks on social networks, accuses the Nobel Foundation of committing “alleged serious crimes, including the crime of serious misappropriation of funds, facilitation of war crimes and crimes against humanity and the financing of the crime of aggression.”
For the founder of Wikileaks, who was able to speak a year ago, “Alfred Nobel’s endowment for peace cannot be used to promote war.” The members of the Foundation, in charge of presenting the prizes, “have specific legal obligations to ensure the fulfillment of the purpose provided for in Alfred Nobel’s will, that is, to put an end to wars and war crimes, and not to facilitate them.”
In this way, Assange considers, choosing María Corina Machado violates the principles that Alfred Nobel left in his will in 1895. The Swedish chemist wanted a part of his fortune to be allocated “to the person who has worked more or better in favor of fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of existing armies and the celebration and promotion of peace processes.” The election of the Venezuelan opponent for the Nobel Peace Prize contravenes this premise by “inciting and supporting the commission of international crimes by the United States.”
In his complaint, Assange demands the “immediate” freezing of the eleven million Swedish crowns (one million euros) that are awarded to Nobel winners. “There is a real risk that funds derived from the Nobel endowment have been or will be intentionally or negligently diverted from their charitable purpose to facilitate aggression, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
The activist bases his complaint on statements made, among others, by 21 Norwegian peace organizations, which declared that “Machado is the opposite of a Nobel Peace Prize winner”; by Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, who declared that “giving the prize to someone who calls for a foreign invasion is a mockery of Alfred Nobel’s will”; or the Oslo Peace Research Institute (PRIO), from where they confirmed that Machado “has requested a military intervention in Venezuela.”
The complaint provides evidence, on the other hand, of some interventions by María Corina Machado herself, such as one on October 30, 2025 in which she stated that “military escalation may be the only way” in Venezuela. For Assange, Machado “has incited the Trump Administration to continue its path of escalation,” being able to use the Nobel Prize to “tip the balance in favor of war.”
