From one to another Nobel Open Letter from Adolfo Pérez Esquivel to María Corina Machado

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Página12, 13/10 /2025
Translated by Tlaxcala

 

I send you the greeting of Peace and Good, so greatly needed by humanity and by peoples living amid poverty, conflict, war, and hunger.
This open letter is meant to express and share a few reflections.

I was surprised by your designation as Nobel Peace Prize laureate, awarded by the Nobel Committee. It brought back memories of the struggles against dictatorships across our continent and in my own country — the military dictatorships we endured from 1976 to 1983. We resisted prisons, torture, and exile, with thousands of disappeared persons, abducted children, and the death flights, of which I am a survivor.

In 1980, the Nobel Committee awarded me the Nobel Peace Prize. Forty-five years have passed, and we continue working in service of the poorest, alongside the peoples of Latin America. In their name, I accepted that high distinction — not for the prize itself, but for the commitment shared with the peoples who struggle and hope to build a new dawn.
Peace is built day by day, and we must be consistent between what we say and what we do.

At 94, I remain a student of life, and your social and political stances concern me. Therefore, I send you these reflections.

The Venezuelan government is a democracy with its lights and shadows. Hugo Chávez charted the path of freedom and sovereignty for his people and fought for continental unity — a reawakening of the Great Homeland. The United States attacked him constantly: it cannot allow any country in the Americas to escape its orbit and colonial dependence. It still views Latin America as its “backyard.”
The U.S. blockade against Cuba, lasting over 60 years, is an attack on freedom and the rights of peoples. The Cuban people’s resistance stands as a lesson in dignity and strength.

I am astonished by how tightly you cling to the United States: you must know that it has no allies or friends — only interests.
The dictatorships imposed in Latin America were orchestrated to serve its aims of domination, destroying the social, cultural, and political life of peoples striving for freedom and self-determination.
We, the peoples, resist and fight for our right to be free and sovereign, and not colonies of the United States.

The government of Nicolás Maduro lives under the constant threat of the United States and its blockade — one need only recall the U.S. naval forces stationed in the Caribbean and the danger of invasion.
You have not uttered a word, nor condemned this interference by a great power against Venezuela. Yet the Venezuelan people are ready to face the threat.

Corina, I ask you: why did you call on the United States to invade Venezuela?
Upon learning of your Nobel Peace Prize, you dedicated it to Trump — the aggressor of your own country, the man who lies and accuses Venezuela of being a narco-state, a falsehood akin to George Bush’s claim that Saddam Hussein possessed “weapons of mass destruction.”
That was the pretext to invade Iraq, plunder it, and cause thousands of deaths among women and children.
I was in Baghdad at the end of the war, in a children’s hospital, and saw with my own eyes the destruction and death caused by those who proclaim themselves defenders of freedom.
The worst form of violence is the lie.

Do not forget, Corina, that Panama was invaded by the United States, causing death and destruction to capture a former ally, General Noriega.
The invasion left 1,200 dead in Los Chorrillos.
Today, the U.S. once again seeks to reclaim control of the Panama Canal.
It is a long list of U.S. interventions and suffering inflicted upon Latin America and the world.
The veins of Latin America remain open, as Eduardo Galeano once wrote.

I am troubled that you dedicated your Nobel not to your people, but to the aggressor of Venezuela.
I believe, Corina, you must reflect and understand where you stand — whether you are merely another piece in the U.S. colonial system, submissive to its interests of domination, which can never serve the good of your people.
As an opponent of the Maduro government, your stances and choices create much uncertainty, especially when you call for a foreign invasion of your homeland.

Remember that building peace requires great strength and courage for the good of your people — a people I know and deeply love.
Where once there were shantytowns clinging to the hills, surviving in poverty and destitution, there are now decent homes, healthcare, education, and culture.
The dignity of a people cannot be bought or sold.

Corina, as the poet* says:

“Traveler, there is no path; the path is made by walking.”

You now have the chance to work for your people and build peace, not provoke greater violence.
One evil cannot be cured by a greater evil: we would have two evils and never a solution.

Open your mind and your heart to dialogue, to meeting your people.
Empty the jug of violence and build peace and unity among your people, so that the light of freedom and equality may finally enter.

*Another Machado, named Antonio (no relation to Mrs. María Corina) [Transl. n.]