BRUSSELS (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia have been awarded the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced Thursday.
Machado ran as the democratic opposition candidate in Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election, but she was disqualified by the government, so González took her place. He had never ran for office before the presidential election.
The lead-up to the poll saw widespread repression, 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 transition of power, they have fearlessly upheld values that millions of Venezuelans and the European Parliament hold so dear: justice, democracy and the rule of law,” Metsola told EU lawmakers.
“This parliament stands with the people of Venezeula and with 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 maintains that it has evidence that González won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin against Venezuela’s authoritarian incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, despite his claim to have won.
Maduro’s victory was contested by independent observers, including the United Nations. In a resolution last month, the EU parliament recognized González as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
The EU award, named after Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and basic freedoms.
The winner is chosen by senior EU lawmakers from among candidates nominated by the European Parliament’s various political groups. The assembly says the award is “the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work.”
Two Middle East grassroots groups – Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun – were on the shortlist for their efforts to bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians, as was Azerbaijan 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, with its 50,000-euro ($54,000) endowment, will be presented in a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in mid-December.