Venezuelan opposition leaders win the EU's top human rights prize

BRUSSELS — Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia have won the European Union's top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced Thursday.

Machado was set to run as the democratic opposition candidate against the incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, in Venezuela's contested 2024 election, but she was disqualified by the government, so González took her place. He had never run 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, despite Maduro's 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.

He thanked Machado, describing her as ''an exceptional person who, with all her political talent, her absolute dedication and her indomitable spirit, paved the way that we are currently following, keeping the flame of freedom alive in our country.''

González also expressed his ''gratitude, pride and admiration for my Venezuelan compatriots, who with the utmost civility, courage and determination have for years confronted, and continue to confront, a regime that systematically violates human rights.''

But he warned that ''the struggle is not over. The regime persists in blocking political change, committing more and more human rights violations and crimes against humanity,'' and he urged supporters of democracy everywhere to help ''enforce the sovereign mandate of the Venezuelan people.''

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.''

Several laureates, including Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.