Venezuela’s opposition leaders receive the highest recognition of human rights in the European Union
STRASBOURG, France (AP) – The European Union legislature on Tuesday celebrated the courage and steadfast resistance of Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia while awarding them the EU’s highest human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize.
The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said “it is in gratitude for your tireless efforts to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela and ensure a fair, free and peaceful transition of power – risking everything for the values that millions of Venezuelans and this parliament love.”
Machado was going to run against the incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, in Venezuela’s elections this year, but the government rejected him. González took his place. He had never run for office.
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Before the elections there was widespread repression including deportations, arrests and human rights violations. Machado hid, fearing for his life. A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González, who moved to Spain and received asylum.
“We are facing a regime that undermines the democratic institutions of human rights and the system of freedom,” González told EU lawmakers.
Maduro’s victory was contested by independent observers including the United Nations. In a decision last month, the EU parliament recognized González as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
The EU award, named after Soviet dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, was established in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. The winner is chosen by the main EU lawmakers from among the nominees of the different political parties in the European Parliament. The meeting says this award is “the highest award paid by the European Union to the work of human rights.”
Several recipients, including Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
“This award goes hand in hand with a rich historical legacy,” said González.
The annual award also carries a 50,000-euro ($54,000) endowment.
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