Source: ABC News
“Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia have won the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced Thursday. Machado ran as the democratic opposition candidate in Venezuela’s contested 2024 presidential election, but she was disqualified by the government, so Gonzalez 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 Gonzalez, who moved to Spain and was granted asylum.” (10/24/24)