Jan. 22, 2026 10:29 AM PT
To the editor: I learn the letter to the editor from a reader blasting María Corina Machado for giving her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump (“Letters to the Editor: María Corina Machado demeans the Nobel Prize by handing it to Trump,” Jan. 17). I suppose it’s straightforward to criticize her from a rich, secure metropolis like Pasadena. Machado has not had that luxurious, having needed to keep on the transfer attributable to political persecution.
In her battle for her nation’s democracy, Machado realized she wanted the assistance of america, and to attain that assist, she knew flattery was the one option to acquire favor from our egotistical president (ask Russian President Vladimir Putin — he is aware of that negotiating tactic effectively).
Machado solely had one bargaining software: her Nobel Prize. Who is aware of if it was even her thought to supply it — she may’ve been pressured to deliver it as the one all-access move for entry into the White Home. “Cringe-worthy”? How about brave and selfless?
It was her last-ditch effort for Venezuela, which sadly will in all probability not accomplish a lot. However I believe it’s unfair to criticize somebody if you actually don’t know of what she has endured making an attempt to avoid wasting her nation.
Kendall Wolf, Encino
