Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado receives Václav Havel award

The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado received the Václav Havel award from the Council of Europe on Monday, a gesture that once again shows the international community's rejection of Nicolás Maduro's regime. The institution – made up of 46 countries and independent of the European Union (EU) – awarded Machado a cash prize of 60,000 euros for "her outstanding action in civil society and defense of Human Rights".

The Venezuelan politician was disqualified as a candidate in the presidential elections on July 28 in Venezuela, has been in hiding since August this year for fear of reprisals, and addressed the Council Assembly through a recording after her daughter Ana collected the award on her behalf.

In her message, the opposition leader said she felt "deeply moved, honored, and grateful" and emphasized that her movement has demonstrated "the victory of democrats over dictatorship". She dedicated the award "to the millions of Venezuelans who embody Havel's values and ideas every day" and noted that the importance of this recognition "is immense", not only for her but for all those who fight together "for the cause of freedom in Venezuela".

This award is named after the humanist and former president of the Czech Republic and is given each year to an outstanding figure in the defense of Human Rights. In his speech at the award ceremony, the President of the Council of Europe Assembly, Theodoros Rousopoulos, noted that six of the eleven previous winners of the Václav Havel Human Rights award are in prison and urged their immediate release. "These individuals committed only one crime; they simply wanted their voices to be heard to share their vision of a just and free society".

In the case of María Corina Machado, the president assured that her name "is alongside those whose lives are at risk for creating more democratic and just societies". The other two nominees were Azerbaijani activist Akif Gurbanov, detained in Baku, and Georgian feminist and humanitarian activist Babutsa Pataraia.

The Venezuelan, co-founder of the civil organization Súmate and former member of the National Assembly, is also among those nominated for the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, along with opposition candidate Edmundo González, who is in Spain and wants to apply for asylum. Both names appear, at the proposal of European conservatives, on the list of potential candidates for what is the highest award given by the European Parliament. The final decision will be announced at the end of October.