BRUSSELS (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia have won the European Union’s highest human rights award, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced Thursday.
Machado ran as a candidate for the democratic opposition in Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election, but she was disqualified by the government, so González took her place. He had never run for office before the presidential election.
There was widespread repression in the run-up to the poll, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. Machado went into hiding, fearing for her life. A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González, who moved to Spain and was granted asylum.
“In their quest for a fair, free and peaceful transfer of power, they have fearlessly upheld values so dear to millions of Venezuelans and the European Parliament: justice, democracy and the rule of law,” Metsola told EU lawmakers.
“This parliament supports the people of Venezeula and Maria and Edmundo in their struggle for the democratic future of their country,” she said, adding: “We are confident that Venezeula and democracy will ultimately prevail.”
Machado’s group claims it has evidence that González won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin over Venezuela’s authoritarian incumbent President Nicolás Maduro, despite his claim that he won.
Maduro’s victory was disputed by independent observers, including the United Nations. Last month, the EU parliament adopted a resolution recognizing González as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
The EU award, named after Andrei Sakharov, winner of the Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The winner will be chosen by senior EU lawmakers from candidates nominated by the different groups of the European Parliament. The meeting says the award is “the highest tribute the European Union has paid to human rights work.”
Two grassroots groups from the Middle East – Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun – were shortlisted for their efforts to bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians, as was Azerbaijani academic and anti-corruption activist Gubad Ibadoghlu.
Several laureates, including Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
The annual award, worth 50,000 euros ($54,000), will be presented in mid-December at a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
