Venezuelan wants to stop the peace prize award – through the County Administrative Board
Published 21.11
The Nobel Peace Prize is the finest prize in the world.
If María Corina Machado receives it in Oslo, it will be tainted, says Venezuelan Mauro Herrera.
He has reported the Nobel Foundation to the County Administrative Board.
– Your national pride is in danger, says Mauro Herrera.
Quick version
Mauro Herrera has reported the Nobel Foundation to the County Administrative Board to prevent María Corina Machado from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, as he believes it would violate Alfred Nobel's will.
He believes that María Corina Machado does not meet the Nobel Peace Prize criteria by having supported military intervention in Venezuela.
The discussions have also reached Sweden, where the organization Swedish Peace is questioning the Nobel Committee's decision to nominate Machado as a Peace Prize laureate.
Even as a child, Venezuelan Mauro Herrera heard talk of the great man from the north. He who invented dynamite and bequeathed his money to prizes to celebrate science and peace.
Alfred Nobel.
- The will states what the prize money is to be used for. You can't change a will without asking that person, says Mauro Herrera.
He describes himself as an ordinary Venezuelan. An entrepreneur, who is certainly political but who is not a member of any political party.
In the documents to the County Administrative Board, he lists legal arguments for how María Corina Machado as a laureate violates the Nobel Foundation's statutes, which oblige them to follow the will. However, he is not a lawyer.
"Not asking for a favor"
His main argument is that giving the Peace Prize to María Corina Machado is a violation of the Nobel Foundation's purpose. Because according to the will, the prize should go to someone who:
1. Promotes fraternity between peoples.
2. Works for disarmament.
3. Or organizes peace congresses.
María Corina Machado is controversial in her home country. And a vocal critic of President Nicolás Maduro. Photo: Ariana Cubillos/AP
Mauro Herrera believes that María Corina Machado violates all of those criteria.
– I am not asking for any favor when I ask the County Administrative Board to stop the award ceremony. I am asking them to apply the law, says Mauro Herrera.
Opposition leader
Opposition politician María Corina Machado has long been a vocal critic of Venezuela's current President Nicolás Maduro and former Hugo Chávez. She was one of the first to call their rule of the country a dictatorship. It has been described as having succeeded in uniting the opposition.
In Venezuela, María Corina Machado is accused of treason. She is accused of supporting US sanctions after Nicolás Maduro won the election last year. An election victory that has been heavily questioned – and in which she herself was banned from running.
“Counting on Trump”
It is also no secret that María Corina Machado wants the US to intervene in Venezuela.
Recently, Donald Trump has both escalated his rhetoric against Venezuela, bombed ships that he believes are smuggling drugs and given the CIA the go-ahead to carry out covert operations in the country.
“This means that many here are now afraid of war,” says Mauro Herrera.
Swedish peace changed its mind
María Corina Machado as a Peace Prize laureate has also sparked discussions in Sweden.
Swedish Peace, which initially praised the election as “an important stance for democracy,” later changed its mind.
The organization wrote in a Facebook post that she has an agenda: “which is far from peace, disarmament and reconciliation between peoples. Not least, her uncritical stances on Israel, the US’s attacks on ships in the Caribbean that violate international law and for a military intervention in Venezuela raise a number of questions about how the Nobel Committee made its choice.”
Now Mauro Herrera hopes that the County Administrative Board in Stockholm, which has supervisory responsibility for foundations, will investigate his arguments properly and ultimately stop the awarding of the prize.
– The legacy that Nobel left us – the beautiful message of peace – it is our duty to defend it, says Mauro Herrera.
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