European Parliament arms humanitarian prize to María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia

The European Parliament is awarding the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia.

This award symbolises Parliament’s recognition of the opposition as rightful winners of Venuzuela’s presidential election in July 2024.

Each year Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize, including a monetary award of €50,000, to honour and support exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights, democracy and fundamental freedoms. The laureates of 2023 were Jina Mahsa Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran.

The prize, launched in 1988, is named after Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet nuclear physicist and a strong defender of democracy and human rights. He won the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to raise awareness to the dangers of the nuclear arms race.

Discover more about this year’s laureates here: https://europa.eu/!8Hfy7F