Premio Sájarov del Parlamento Europeo para María Corina Machado y Edmundo González

María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia have been announced as the winners of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament, a decision that was revealed on Thursday, October 24th.

González Urrutia and Machado garnered the support of a majority of the heads of the political groups of the European Parliament who met behind closed doors in Strasbourg, France, as confirmed by parliamentary sources to Efe.

This is the second time that the Venezuelan opposition has received this award, following the win in 2017 by the National Assembly led by Julio Borges and political prisoners. Additionally, the European Parliament had already approved a symbolic resolution in September to recognize González Urrutia as the legitimate elected president of Venezuela.

The other finalists for the award were a Palestinian-Israeli peace project and an anti-corruption activist from Azerbaijan, which are awarded annually by the European Union institution.

Leopoldo Ledezma celebrates the Sakharov Prize for the Venezuelan opposition

“All these laurels are for the Venezuelan people,” stated Antonio Ledezma, the former mayor of Caracas and spokesperson for María Corina Machado in Madrid, upon learning about the awarding of the Sakharov Prize to the Venezuelan opposition, represented by Machado and Edmundo González.

“As they have said, all these laurels are for the Venezuelan people, for those persecuted children, for the political prisoners, for the victims of the murders, for the brave poll witnesses who secured the minutes, now harassed by the dictatorship, and as a balm of hope and relief for the millions of broken families scattered around the world,” he wrote on his social media account.

Sources close to Edmundo González emphasized to Efe the significance of this award, which represents a major “recognition” for the Venezuelan opposition.

The opposition leader went into exile in Spain in September and sought political asylum after a Venezuelan court, at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, issued a warrant for his arrest.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office accused González Urrutia of various crimes related to the publication of 83.5% of the minutes of the elections on July 28, in which the opposition claims that the career diplomat emerged as the winner despite the National Electoral Council (CNE) declaring and proclaiming the victory of the incumbent Nicolás Maduro, a decision later endorsed by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).

Machado had previously won the Václav Havel Award

On September 30th, the opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

This marked the first time the Council of Europe awarded the Václav Havel Prize to someone from Latin America, since the organization first presented the award in 2013 to the Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski.

After leading the opposition with her victory in the October 2023 primaries, Machado was unable to participate in the presidential elections due to a political disqualification by the General Comptroller’s Office and the Political-Administrative Chamber of the TSJ.

Nevertheless, she traveled across the country and served as the main campaign manager for González Urrutia, leading to the persecution and imprisonment of her key collaborators since January 2024.