The 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the Venezuelan opposition

María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia awarded "for their fight for freedom and democracy in Venezuela" and against the Maduro regime.

• The 2024 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought awarded by the European Parliament to María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia.
• Machado is the opposition leader of Venezuela, Urrutia was recognized by the European Union as "president-elect" in the July 2024 elections.
• After the elections, of which Maduro claimed victory without showing the data, there were 2,400 arrests and 24 deaths due to protests in Venezuela.

I am María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, the two best-known faces of the opposition to the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro, the personalities awarded the Sakharov Prize 2024 for freedom of thought from the European Parliament, an award with a very strong symbolic and political value which in recent years had gone to personalities such as the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, then killed in prison at the hands of the regime, or Mahsa Amini, the symbol of the Iranian protests of recent years, but also (in 2022) to all the Ukrainian people.The 2024 Sakharov Prize award ceremony will be held on 18 December in Strasbourg, during the plenary session of the European Parliament.

Who are Machado and Urrutia, recipients of the 2024 Sakharov Prize

María Corina Machado was elected as the presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition on behalf of the Democratic platform of unity in 2023, but was subsequently disqualified by the regime-controlled National Electoral Council.Edmundo González Urrutia, diplomat and politician who succeeded her, participated in the elections held last year and which saw the Maduro's reconfirmation amid heavy accusations of fraud, to the point that it is also defined in the motivation read today by president Roberta Metsola Urrutia president-elect.Today Urrutia, after having denounced the Venezuelan government's failure to publish the official results of the presidential elections and contested his victory, left the country after an arrest warrant was issued for him.

The President of the European Parliament Metsola, giving an account of the awarding of the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, said that Machado and Urrutia were recognized by Europe for "the courageous struggle to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela.In their pursuit of a fair, free and peaceful transition of power, they fearlessly upheld values ​​that millions of Venezuelans and the European Parliament hold so dear:justice, democracy and the rule of law".The European Parliament “stands alongside the Venezuelan people and María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia in their fight for the democratic future of their country.This award is for them."

Moreover, already in a resolution adopted on 19 September 2024, MEPs had underlined that the international observation missions held on the occasion of the presidential elections in July made it clear that international standards of electoral integrity were not respected, recognizing Urrutia as the legitimate president and democratically elected of the country, and Machado as leader of the democratic forces."In the same resolution, the European Parliament called on the Commission to extend sanctions against the Venezuelan regime and to apply targeted sanctions for violations of human rights against Nicolás Maduro and his inner circle:according to the Venezuelan government itself, 2,400 people were arrested during demonstrations following the elections and non-governmental organizations reported the deaths of 24 people.The future of the two winners of the 2024 Sakharov Prize is also cloudy:María Corina Machado remains hidden to this day, while Edmundo González Urrutia fled to Spain, a country which together with Italy hosts a strong Venezuelan community, which increased in large numbers during the years of Maduro's regime, where he obtained political asylum on 7 September.