Venezuelan opposition activist María Corina Machado, Václav Havel Award from the Council of Europe international

María Corina Machado, leader of the opposition to the Nicolas Maduro government in Venezuela, received this Monday the Václav Havel Prize, with which the Council of Europe rewards every year “extraordinary action by civil society in defense of human rights” in Europe and beyond.

The award is another example of international rejection of the Caracas regime following the results announced by the country’s authorities in the July 28 presidential elections. Most of the international community has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the victory claimed by Maduro, as he has refused for more than two months to produce all electoral records to prove it.

Machado, co-founder of the Venezuelan civic organization Sumate, which advocates civil and political freedoms as well as citizens’ rights, won the final round of candidates over Azerbaijani human rights defender Akif Gurbanov and feminist and rights lawyer Human . From Georgia Babutsa Pataria. The Council of Europe says the Venezuelan citizen is “a prominent Venezuelan political figure, committed to condemning human rights abuses in her country and defending democracy and the rule of law.”

The Venezuelan opposition member was unable to attend the public announcement of the award before the start of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg because she has been in hiding since shortly after the presidential elections in her country. Although the Maduro government has repeatedly refused to reveal all electoral records, copies of a large portion of these compiled by the opposition on election day indicate that the winner was opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, who himself resigned after Machado’s political disqualification. Was presented as a candidate. Imposed by Chavismo. The opponent is currently in asylum in Spain.

Last week, within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Spain joined a joint declaration promoted by the United States and Argentina and signed by thirty countries, stating that González Urrutia obtained “the majority of votes” in the presidential election. . “According to publicly available election records.” Although the statement still does not recognize Edmundo González as elected president, it increases pressure on Caracas by indicating that, “according to publicly available electoral records, he obtained the majority of votes in the elections”.

The Václav Havel Prize, which was launched in 2013 in honor of the Czech writer, activist and politician who died two years earlier, is awarded to people who “bring about a real change in the human rights situation of a particular group”. “Play an important role in this.” Exposing systemic violations on a large scale or successfully mobilizing public opinion or the international community in favor of a cause. The prize is worth 60,000 euros. Finalists for the prize are selected by an independent panel composed of well-known figures in the fight for human rights and Theodoros Roussopoulos, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which awards the prize.

Machado and González Urrutia have also been selected as candidates for the 2024 edition of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize, which recognizes freedom of conscience in the world. Both have been nominated by the European People’s Party (EPP) for the main prize given by the EU in the field of human rights. Gonzalez Urrutia has also been selected by the European Conservatives and Democrats (ECR), the ultra-conservative group led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The finalists will be announced on 17th October and the winner will be announced on 24th of the same month.