Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado has told the BBC she is grateful for what US President Donald Trump is doing 'around the world for peace'. Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader, was awarded the 2025 prize having long campaigned against the country's President Nicolás Maduro Moros, whose 12-year rule is viewed by many as illegitimate. She told BBC Mundo that during a congratulatory phone call with Trump she told him 'how grateful the Venezuelan people are for what he's doing, not only in the Americas, but around the world for peace, for freedom, for democracy'. Trump has made no secret about wanting to win the award himself, regularly speaking about the seven wars he claims to have ended. Nominations for the award closed in January, just as Trump's second term as president began. A White House official said on Friday the 'Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace'. Machado said she was 'very glad' to speak to the US president and was 'able to convey to him our appreciation'. The 58-year-old, forced to live in hiding for much of the past year, was hailed by the Nobel Committee as 'one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times'. Nobel chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes said she was recognised for 'her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy'. He added: 'Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions.' Machado was barred from running in last year's presidential elections, in which Maduro won a third six-year term in office.