CODEPINK Disrupts Machado Speech Over Venezuela Sanctions Support

WASHINGTON — Members of the antiwar group CODEPINK disrupted a public address by Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado in Washington this week, denouncing her support for Israel's war on Gaza and her backing of escalating US intervention against Caracas. The protest, captured on video and widely circulated on social media, saw activists rise from the audience holding banners and chanting slogans accusing Machado of endorsing foreign military pressure on her own country and aligning herself with policies that have fueled the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian territories.

Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year for what the committee described as her struggle for democratic transition in Venezuela, has emerged as one of the most vocal Latin American supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. She has repeatedly defended Israeli military operations in Gaza and called for tightened US sanctions and military posturing against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Her stance has drawn sharp criticism from peace advocates, regional governments, and segments of the Venezuelan diaspora who argue that the laureate's positions contradict the spirit of the prize itself.

CODEPINK, a women-led American grassroots organization founded in 2002 in opposition to the Iraq war, has been at the forefront of protests against US foreign policy across multiple administrations. The group has staged similar disruptions targeting officials and figures it accuses of complicity in Israeli operations in Gaza, where more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to local health authorities. Activists at the Washington event reportedly shouted references to Gaza's children and to the Venezuelan civilians most affected by Western sanctions before being escorted from the venue.

The disruption comes amid a sharp escalation in US military activity in the Caribbean, with the Trump administration deploying naval assets near Venezuelan waters and conducting strikes on vessels Washington alleges are tied to drug trafficking. Caracas has condemned the deployments as a prelude to regime change, while several Latin American and Arab governments have urged restraint and dialogue.

For Qatar and the wider Gulf, the controversy underscores how the Gaza war continues to reshape global political alignments well beyond the Middle East. Doha, which has played a central mediating role in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has consistently called for an end to the bloodshed and for accountability under international law. The protest against Machado reflects a growing global discomfort with figures who, despite international honors, are seen as endorsing policies at odds with humanitarian principles championed by Qatar and other Arab states.