Ricardo Pascoe Pierce
María Corina Machado received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. The awarding of the Prize to a fighter for democracy in Venezuela, who has resisted the fiercest repression of Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship and endured in hiding, represents a global endorsement of the ethical and moral character of her struggle. This recognition had an immediate positive effect on the social mood of Venezuelan citizens, allowing for a renewed faith in the righteousness of their struggle for democracy and in the rejection of the dictatorship that remains in power with a repressive apparatus supported by Cuban officials, experts in counterinsurgency, and methods of torture.
Implicit in the recognition of María Corina Machado is the worldwide rejection of the electoral fraud orchestrated by Maduro and his generals to remain in power. Given that the only reliable data on the election results came from citizens who were vigilant at their polling stations and reported the opposition’s landslide victory from each station, the moral and political authority in Venezuela lies with the opposition. The only countries to recognize Maduro’s alleged victory were Russia, Iran, China, along with Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. Cuba and Nicaragua publicly recognized Maduro, while Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico hypocritically recognized him with a discreet nod, not wanting to endorse the fraud publicly, but doing so anyway.
At the inauguration ceremony of the Venezuelan presidency on January 10, Mexico was represented by its ambassador to that country, Leopoldo de Gyvés de la Cruz, recognizing, de facto and de jure, Maduro’s presidency. The ambassador has been active in events with the diplomatic corps based in Venezuela, strengthening relations between Mexico and the Venezuelan dictatorship. Having been appointed ambassador to Venezuela by López Obrador and confirmed by Sheinbaum, Leopoldo de Gyvés moves between his affiliation with Morena and his membership in the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). He has taken on the diplomatic assignment as a space to promote the Venezuelan government.
For example, just a few days ago, on July 21, 2025, Ambassador de Gyvés accompanied Governor Margarita González Saravia of Morelos to an event in Cuernavaca to promote the twinning of Morelos and Venezuelan cities. The governor expressed her vision of Venezuela and the regime in that country: “We are united by a friendship of more than 40 years and a common conviction for the causes of the people. Today we continue to build bridges, now between Morelos and Venezuela.” The governor also emphasized: “From Morelos, we welcome this collaboration because we believe in a foreign policy of solidarity and closeness to the people.” In Venezuela, the ambassador publicizes his recognition and adulation of Maduro on Bolivarian Armed Forces Day, posting a video on his Facebook page of this “important” event for the relationship between Mexico and Venezuela, including a hug.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, President Sheinbaum was succinct in her response to a question about her opinion on the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to María Corina Machado. She said curtly: “We have always spoken of the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, not only out of conviction but because it is established in the Constitution, and I will leave it at that.” In other words, she said nothing. Not a single word in solidarity with another woman, even one who risks her life every day for her beliefs, even if they are not those of the president. No. Mexico gave a cold, aloof, even angry but restrained response, lacking the slightest hint of empathy. With a legal excuse, she disdains the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Obviously, the bottom line is that Mexico supports Maduro’s government, our ambassador admires him, and Morena shares his ideology, according to several of the ideologues (sic) of the movement founded and led by López Obrador. In that context, it is preferable to look the other way when discussing the thorny issue of electoral fraud. That is what Sheinbaum, Petro, Lula, and López Obrador do. It should be noted, however, that the argument or excuse of “self-determination of peoples and the Constitution” quickly wears thin due to its inconsistency. Mexico comments on the internal affairs of other countries and intervenes when Morena believes it is in its interest to do so. This has been the case with Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Mexico intervenes and then comments. It especially voices its opinion and kicks up a fuss when the intervention goes wrong, as in the cases of Peru and Ecuador. Politicians expelled from those three countries currently reside in Mexico and live off the Mexican treasury. Their stay in the country costs us a lot of money.
And then there is the case of Cuba, a country that Mexico is currently carrying, as if it were the passed-out drunk of the Caribbean neighborhood. The Cuban economy is completely dysfunctional and survives only thanks to Mexico and our contributions of billions of dollars in oil, lubricants, spare parts for the electrical industry, and textbooks for all Cuban students. Not only do we intervene in that country’s internal affairs, but we also demand payment in return, in the form of visits and refuge for Mexican politicians who fear for the future of their own country or for threats from the U.S. justice system. Cuba is the strategic rear guard of Morena, a party that is creaking under the weight of its contradictions and recurring internal crises, which are becoming increasingly dangerous. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to María Corina Machado has abruptly and obviously exposed Mexico’s foreign policy. Its hypocrisy has been laid bare. Mexico supports the Venezuelan dictatorship and despises a popular democratic movement. That unspeakable support began with López Obrador and continues with Sheinbaum.
Now Mexico’s policy of supporting the Venezuelan dictatorship faces a new challenge: the revision of the USMCA between Mexico, Canada, and the United States. While the United States criticized the awarding of the Nobel Prize, it was not because of María Corina Machado. It was simply because Trump wanted the prize for himself. María Corina, being a shrewd politician, spoke to Trump, saying that he would have won it. That temporarily appeased the US presidential ego. To divert attention from that issue, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods. It was a clever diversion from the discussion, but it caused instability in the stock markets—one thing for another. Who would have thought that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize would lead to the unmasking of Mexican foreign policy, further discredit Mexico internationally, and make the renegotiation of the USMCA more expensive?
@rpascoep
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