Ignoble Nobel

The world has been shocked by the way the medal of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize – one of the most valued and respected prizes on earth – was transferred from its rightful owner to an unauthorised person. The awardee – Opposition leader of Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado – and the usurper of the medal – US President Donald Trump – have not covered themselves with glory for their unprecedented action that has virtually devalued the coveted prize itself. The prize has often been a subject of controversy, primarily for the political overtone that the choice of the awardees at times get. All the same, it never lost its lustre as the winners are mostly hailed as tireless champions of peace.

However, Trump relentlessly kept expressing his desire to get the prize ever since he first took office in 2017. In fact, he has been so obsessed with the prize that he did not hide his deep sense of insecurity that President Barack Obama had won it in 2009 soon after occupying the post for, as the Nobel committee put it, his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Trump of course disputed it and recently said Obama “didn’t even know why he got it.” On the contrary, he has been touting that he deserves it fully as he has stopped “eight wars.” Whatever the worth of the claims, his violent action in grabbing and arresting Venezuela’s democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from their presidential residence, in what some say an illegal raid, and his constant threat to possess Greenland, rather disqualify him from getting the prize. The show in the Oval Office of Machado transferring the Nobel medal to Trump was the least that was expected of the two political leaders.

One can understand Trump’s injured pride for being ignored for the prize, but the motives of Machado appear to be far more abhorrent. She seems to be using the honour as a quid pro quo, a bargaining chip for her political ambition to capture power in her country. Her party overwhelmingly won the 2024 presidential election in Venezuela, yet Trump did not even bother to install her as President in place of Maduro.

Instead, he has begun working with his deputy Delcy Rodriguez, the interim President, and the entire political establishment owing allegiance to the former President. Machado’s gifting plan is, at least for the moment, not paying the calculated dividends. As she and Trump were meeting, the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, was in Caracas meeting with Rodríguez, who was part of the forces that barred Machado from running in the election.

In other words, Trump has chosen to operate Venezuela through the very people Machado fought. The prize, however, was mainly given to mark the bravery of those who stood up to the forces that Trump finds no difficulty in working with. Rodriguez seems to be too eager to do his bidding and grant US companies access to the world’s largest oil reserve. Such an arrangement helps the US to run Venezuela’s affairs by remote control without turning Trump’s home constituency hostile. This is not a conjecture. It was made amply clear after Machado handed over the medal to Trump who did not indicate any shift in his posture on Machado leading Venezuela, while the White House said his earlier assessment on Rodriguez had not changed. Whether pressure was mounted on Machado or whether she offered the medal on her own is still in the realm of speculation. What is not difficult to understand is that both Trump and Machado made a mockery of a coveted prize for personal gains. The question remains whether the US President’s personal whims and caprices should be allowed to influence the country’s foreign policy, as the Nobel medal is virtually being used as bait by Machado to fulfil her own personal desire to rule the country sooner or later with Trump’s help. This is bribing.

However, the Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute Kristian Berg Harpviken has bluntly told the truth that “receiving the symbols of the Peace Prize does not make anyone a Peace Prize laureate.” The shameful incident should make the committee choosing the winner of the prize far more cautious when it selects future awardees. This is the lesson it can learn from the Trump-Machado medal swap deal scandal.