AREQUIPA, Peru – María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader, won this Monday the Václav Havel prize awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for “denouncing human rights abuses in her country and defending democracy and the State of Right”.
A report of the EFE agency points out that it was the daughter of the opponent, Ana Corina Sosa, who collected the award during the ceremony.
“I deeply regret that you cannot travel,” said Assembly President Theodoros Rousopoulos to Corina Machado, who connected by videoconference, when announcing her name as the winner of the award.
Machado, who is in hiding due to threats from the Nicolás Maduro regime, highlighted the importance of the award for “all those who fight together for the cause of freedom in Venezuela.”
Since the Council of Europe awarded the award for the first time in 2013 to the defender of human rights Belarusian, Ales Bialiatski, this is the first time that the Václav Havel has been awarded to someone from Latin America.
During her intervention, María Corina Machado assured that she would continue “fighting alongside the Venezuelan people.”
“I am convinced that it is the right thing to do, that it is my role, and that is why they chose me as their leader for this stage of struggle,” stressed the Venezuelan opponent.
European recognition of the Venezuelan cause
On September 19, the European Parliament also issued a resolution in which he recognizes Edmundo González Urrutia as the “legitimate and democratically elected president of Venezuela.”
The decision came after the July 28, 2024 presidential election, which was heavily criticized for failing to meet international electoral integrity standards.
The non-binding document was put to a vote and approved with 309 votes in favor, 201 against and 12 abstentions.
In the resolution, Parliament expressed its concern about the lack of transparency and irregularities in the electoral process carried out by the National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by the regime. Nicolas Maduro. The resolution highlights that “the CNE refused to publish the official record of the recount minutes and falsified the results of the elections,” which led to the recognition of a false victory for Maduro.
The European Parliament also highlighted that “the democratic opposition obtained 83.5% of the official tally sheets”, which were verified as authentic by the United Nations Group of Experts. According to these documents, González won the elections with 67.08% of the votes cast.
Likewise, the resolution condemns “orchestrated electoral fraud” and denounces human rights violations, arbitrary arrests and reprisals against the opposition and civil society. Parliament also demanded the “immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners” and condemned reprisals against Maria Corina Machadowho was also key in the opposition.
