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MAX BLUMENTHAL AND WYATT REED
\nGRAYZONE<\/p>\n
The Swedish government violated its own laws by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado, according to an explosive legal brief filed by Julian Assange, the Wikileaks co-founder and former political prisoner who was hounded across the globe<\/a>, confined in harsh conditions, and subjected to physical and psychological torment<\/a> over the course of a decade by the US and its allies.<\/p>\n The Nobel committee\u2019s decision to award Machado the Peace Prize \u2014 and the 11 million Swedish Kroner ($1.18 million USD) reward which accompanies it \u2014 means that \u201cthere is a real risk that funds derived from Nobel\u2019s endowment have been or will be\u2026 diverted from their charitable purpose to facilitate aggression, crimes against humanity, and war crimes,\u201d Assange stated.<\/p>\n The Wikileaks founder pointed to the \u201cample public statements\u2026 showing that the U.S. government and Mar\u00eda Corina Machado have exploited the authority of the prize to provide them with a casus moralis<\/i> for war,\u201d adding that the explicitly stated purpose of the war sought by Machado and her wealthy Latin American backers would be \u201cinstalling her by force in order to plunder $1.7 trillion in Venezuelan oil and other resources.\u201d<\/p>\n The Nobel Foundation stands accused of a number of violations of Swedish criminal law, including breach of trust, misappropriation and gross misappropriation, conspiracy, crimes against international law, as well as financing of aggression, facilitation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and breaching Sweden\u2019s stated obligations under the Rome Statute, to which Stockholm says it is \u201cdeeply committed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Under Swedish law, \u201cAlfred Nobel\u2019s endowment for peace cannot be spent on the promotion of war,\u201d Assange noted. \u201cNor can it be used as a tool in foreign military intervention. Venezuela, whatever the status of its political system, is no exception.\u201d<\/p>\n By granting Nobel funds to Machado, Assange argues that the Committee is effectively financing \u201ca conspiracy to murder civilians, to violate national sovereignty using military force\u2026\u201d By refusing to end payments, \u201cthey flagrantly violate Nobel\u2019s will and clearly cross the threshold into criminality,\u201d he alleged. The Wikileaks co-founder seeks the \u201cimmediate freezing of all remaining funds and a full criminal investigation\u201d into Committee members who awarded the prize.<\/p>\n The Nobel Prizes were established in 1901 according to Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel\u2019s last will and testament, which was later incorporated into the Swedish and Norwegian legal systems. The Peace Prize, which is meant to be bestowed on the figure who has contributed most to \u201cfraternity between nations,\u201d the \u201cabolition or reduction of standing armies,\u201d and \u201cthe holding and promotion of peace congresses,\u201d has served as a cornerstone of Scandinavian soft power ever since.<\/p>\n Since its inception, however, the prize was marred by controversy due to the violent legacy of its recipients, and the political ambitions of its Norwegian sponsors. In the case of one of the Prize\u2019s first winners, US President Theodore Roosevelt, the Norwegian Nobel Committee was criticized at the time for overlooking the American statesman\u2019s naked warmongering in Latin America in order to curry favor with the nascent US empire. The New York Times sardonically observed<\/a> that \u201ca broad smile illuminated the face of the globe when the prize was awarded \u2026 to the most warlike citizen of these United States.\u201d<\/p>\n The same dynamic is at play in the Caribbean once again, according to Assange, as the Nobel Committee crowns a Venezuelan politician best known for her unhinged appeals<\/a>for foreign military intervention and her dedication of her Nobel victory to US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n As Assange explained, Trump\u2019s massive buildup of US military forces off the coast of Venezuela \u201chas already committed undeniable war crimes, including the lethal targeting of civilian boats and survivors at sea, which has killed at least 95 people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights labeled these U.S. coastal strikes against civilian boats \u201cextrajudicial executions,\u201d the Wikileaks co-founder wrote. And the \u201cprincipal architect of this aggression\u201d was none other than Trump\u2019s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who \u201cnominated Mar\u00eda Corina Machado for the peace prize.\u201d<\/p>\n The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a figure as clearly unqualified as Machado \u2013 and in apparent violation of Swedish law \u2013 raised questions about whether the Committee had been influenced by powerful outside interests. Machado\u2019s nomination for the prize by the US Secretary of State had an undeniable impact on the decision, as the Nobel ceremony serves as a central channel of Norwegian soft power. But inside Oslo, a political powerbroker determined to return to power in his family\u2019s native Venezuela may have also played a role in swinging votes for Machado.<\/p>\n He is Thor Halvorssen Jr.<\/a>, the son of a CIA asset<\/a> and wealthy Venezuelan aristocrat who held positions in neoliberal Venezuelan governments before the election of Hugo Chavez. Halvorssen is also the first cousin of Leopoldo Lopez, the author of several military coups against Chavez and Maduro, and the founder of the US government-sponsored Popular Will party which has traditionally led the way for the radical opposition.<\/p>\n As the founder of the Oslo Freedom Forum, a self-proclaimed human rights group which openly advocates for toppling governments targeted by the West, Halvorssen presides over a network of Western-backed regime change activists. At the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum, Halvorssen played host to Machado, who clamored for Maduro\u2019s removal through a video link-up from Venezuela, where she was supposedly \u201cin hiding.\u201d This year\u2019s Forum featured Machado\u2019s top advisor, the Spain-based Pedro Uchuruttu<\/a>, as well as her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa<\/a>. When the Nobel Committee awarded Machado with its peace prize in October, the Oslo Freedom Forum issued a press release<\/a> celebrating the decision for \u201cchang[ing] the dynamics\u201d in Venezuela.<\/p>\n The Norway-based Fritt Ord Foundation is a key link between Halvorssen\u2019s Oslo Freedom Forum and leaders of the Nobel Committee. The Oslo Freedom Forum declares on its website that Fritt Ord \u201cwas among the first to endorse\u201d it. While providing funding to Halvorssen\u2019s regime change outfit, Fritt Ord awarded Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair<\/a>, with its 2021 Freedom of Expression Tribute<\/a>. During his speech awarding the Nobel Prize to Machado, Frydnes likened<\/a> the right-wing coup plotter to Nelson Mandela. With geriatric members of the Norwegian royal family seated just a few feet away, he went on to call for Maduro to step down and allow Machado to preside over a \u201cdemocratic\u201d transition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Frydnes also happens to be the former director of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a think tank focused on supporting the Ukraine proxy war, which is a formal partner<\/a> and supporter of Halvorssen\u2019s Oslo Freedom Forum.<\/p>\n Among the five judges who awarded Machado her prize was Kristin Clemet, a Norwegian politician who was also awarded the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Tribute<\/a>in 2017. Clemet is the managing director of a liberal Norwegian think tank called Civita which officially partners<\/a> with and supports<\/a> Halvorssen\u2019s Oslo Freedom Forum.<\/p>\n Even before she had officially received the award, Machado\u2019s entourage drew accusations of corruption and illegal enrichment after a handful of insiders seemingly used advanced knowledge<\/a> of her imminent win to rake in close to $100,000 on the Polymarket betting site.<\/p>\n The odds of Machado winning surged from 3.75% to 72.8% just hours before the Nobel Committee officially informed Machado of her victory. One unusually prescient bettor won $65,000 gambling on the Venezuelan opposition figure. \u201cIt seems we have been prey to a criminal actor who wants to earn money on our information,\u201d said<\/a> Kristian Berg Harpviken, the head of the Nobel Institute.<\/p>\n Months later, The Nobel committee still has yet to conclude its investigation into the corruption scandal. As of publication, the committee did not respond to a request for comment by The Grayzone.<\/p>\n For what promotes itself as the world\u2019s premiere peacemaking institution, it may be too late to undo the damage wrought by giving the Nobel Prize to an avowed champion of violent regime change.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing her elevated position as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Machado may well have\u201d already \u201ctipped the balance in favor of war,\u201d Assange concluded.<\/p>\nNorwegian Nobel judges tied to influential Venezuelan regime change lobbyist<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Who\u2019s behind Nobel insider gambling scheme?<\/strong><\/h3>\n