Venezuelan opposition leaders win EU parliament’s prime human rights honor

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Venezuelan opposition leaders win EU parliament’s prime human rights honor

The European parliament has awarded its prime human rights honor, the Sakharov prize for freedom of thought, to Venezuelan opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González for “representing the folks of Venezuela preventing to revive freedom and democracy”.

Machado was set to run because the democratic opposition candidate in opposition to the incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, in Venezuela’s contested 2024 election, however she was disqualified by the federal government, so González took her place. He had by no means run for workplace earlier than the presidential election.

The lead-up to the ballot noticed widespread repression, together with disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. Machado went into hiding, fearing for her life. A Venezuelan court docket issued an arrest warrant for González, who claimed political asylum in Spain.

“Of their quest for a good, free and peaceable transition of energy, they’ve fearlessly upheld values that tens of millions of Venezuelans and the European parliament maintain so expensive: justice, democracy and the rule of regulation,” Roberta Metsola, president of the European parliament, advised EU lawmakers.

“This parliament stands with the folks of Venezuela and with María and Edmundo of their wrestle for the democratic way forward for their nation,” she added. “We’re assured that Venezeula and democracy will finally prevail.”

Machado’s group maintains that it has proof that González received the 28 July presidential election by a large margin, regardless of Maduro’s declare to have received.

Maduro’s victory was contested by impartial observers, together with the United Nations. In a decision final month, the EU parliament acknowledged González as Venezuela’s reputable president.

In a submit on X, González mentioned that he was “honored and grateful” for the award.

He thanked Machado, describing her as “an distinctive one that, with all her political expertise, her absolute dedication and her indomitable spirit, paved the way in which that we’re presently following, retaining the flame of freedom alive in our nation”.

González additionally expressed his “gratitude, pleasure and admiration for my Venezuelan compatriots, who with the utmost civility, braveness and willpower have for years confronted, and proceed to confront, a regime that systematically violates human rights”.

However he warned that “the wrestle just isn’t over. The regime persists in blocking political change, committing increasingly human rights violations and crimes in opposition to humanity,” and he urged supporters of democracy all over the place to assist “implement the sovereign mandate of the Venezuelan folks”.

The EU award, named after Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet dissident and Nobel peace prize laureate, was created in 1988 to honor people or teams who defend human rights and primary freedoms.

The winner is chosen by senior EU lawmakers from amongst candidates nominated by the European parliament’s varied political teams. The meeting says the award is “the best tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work”.

Two Center East grassroots teams, Girls Wage Peace and Girls of the Solar, had been on the shortlist for his or her efforts to bridge the divide between Israelis and Palestinians, as was the Azerbaijan tutorial and anti-corruption activist Gubad Ibadoghlu.

A number of laureates – together with Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad – went on to win the Nobel peace prize.

The annual award, with its €50,000 ($54,000) endowment, shall be offered in a ceremony on the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, in mid-December.


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