On Tuesday 17 December in Strasbourg, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, awarded the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Venezuelan opposition figures Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado (see EUROPE 13511/7).
“This award is not just a recognition but also a reminder that the fight for freedom is never in vain”, said Ms Metsola.
Present in the Chamber, Mr González Urrutia was the Venezuelan opposition candidate in the disputed presidential elections at the end of July. He had to flee his country for Spain in September, after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“No government based on violence is stable”, said Mr González Urrutia, accepting the Sakharov Prize with “great responsibility”, following in the footsteps of previous prestigious winners such as South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and Russia’s Alexei Navalny.
In September, the European Parliament recognised him as the “legitimate, democratically elected President of Venezuela” in a resolution supported by the EPP, ECR and PfE groups (see EUROPE 13486/8).
Represented at the ceremony by her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, Ms Machado was the opposition’s initial candidate for the Venezuelan presidency on behalf of the ‘United Democratic Platform’, before being disqualified by the Venezuelan authorities in early 2024.
Speaking by videoconference, the Venezuelan political leader said that, with this prize, the European Parliament was recognising the “tireless struggle” of the Venezuelan people to free themselves from 25 years of “criminal rule”.
Opponents of Nicólas Maduro’s regime previously received this award in 2017 (see EUROPE 11925/8).
Also present at the ceremony on Tuesday were the daughter of Azerbaijani doctor and anti-corruption campaigner Gubad Ibadoghlu, whose health is a major concern for MEPs, and representatives of the Israeli women’s organisation Women Wage Peace and the Palestinian organisation Women of the Sun. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)