The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado.

The former opposition presidential candidate in Venezuela was lauded for being a “key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided — an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government,” said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

“In the past year, Miss Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.”

President Nicolás Maduro’s government routinely targeted its real or perceived opponents ahead of last year’s presidential election.

Machado was set to run against Maduro, but the government disqualified her. Edmundo González took her place. He had never run for office before. The lead-up to the election saw widespread repression including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations.

The crackdown on dissent only increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.

The election results announced by the Electoral Council sparked protests across the country to which the government responded with force and ended with more than 20 people dead. They also prompted an end to diplomatic relations between Venezuela and various foreign countries, including Argentina.

Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since January. A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González, who moved to Spain and was granted asylum.

Last year, Machado and González were awarded the European Union’s top human rights honour, The Sakharov Prize.

The committee praised Machado as “a brave and committed champion of peace” who “keeps the flame of democracy burning amidst a growing darkness”.

There had been persistent speculation ahead of the announcement about the possibility of the prize going to US President Donald Trump, fuelled in part by the president himself and amplified by this week’s approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Experts say the committee typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals.

Last year’s award went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have worked for decades to maintain a taboo around the use of nuclear weapons.

The peace prize is the only one of the annual Nobel prizes to be awarded in Oslo, Norway.

Four of the other prizes have already been awarded in the Swedish capital, Stockholm this week — in medicine on Monday, physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The winner of the prize in economics will be announced on Monday.