The country’s election was held on July 28, but Maduro and Edmundo Gonzalez, the opposition candidate, declared victory. It is speculated that Gonzalez was the actual winner of the election, but governing bodies in Venezuela, loyal to Maduro, declared him the winner. Despite opposition to his claim and numerous protests and demonstrations, he has refused to concede or step down as president. Maduro has been widely criticized and condemned by the international community.

Party leader Maria Corina Machado and opposition party presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez (whom the United States recognized as Venezuela’s President-elect) were awarded the Sakharov Prize for their work in fighting for democracy and human rights in their country. The prize is considered a prestigious recognition and the EU’s highest award for “defenders of freedom.” It was presented at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, during a ceremony on Tuesday. 

The Sakharov Prize is named after Andrei Sakharov, a former Soviet Union physicist and eventual dissident who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. Sakharov argued against the arms race between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. and advocated more international cooperation and human rights. The award was established in his honor in 1988; previous recipients include South African President Nelson Mandela, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Anon, Russian activist Alexei Navalny, and activist Malala Yousafzai. 

“The European Parliament has awarded the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia,” Europe’s governing body announced in a post on X. 

“Your courage and your dedication to the cause of Venezuelan democracy is in equal parts inspiring and galvanizing. Your efforts remind us that it is up to every one of us to fight for democracy, because freedom must and will prevail everywhere, always,” said Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament. 

Gonzalez attended the ceremony in person, but Machado is currently in hiding in Venezuela after numerous threats on her life for her continued opposition to Maduro’s regime. Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, accepted the award on her behalf. Machado addressed the European Parliament remotely from an undisclosed location. Gonzalez was forced to flee Venezuela in September and sought Asylum in Spain.

“The fight for freedom and democracy in our country is also the fight for these values around the world,” Gonzalez said. “It is those people [of Venezuela] who truly embody the spirit of this award, in recognition of the courageous struggle to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela.”

“This award is a tribute to every Venezuelan who has decided to be free,” Machado said. “This recognition, especially at this critical moment, is a testament to the world’s faith in the Venezuelan people and the unwavering pursuit of our ultimate goal: Freedom.”