Maria Corina Machado among the finalists for the Council of Europe human rights award

The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, for whom the Nobel Peace Prize is being requestedis among the three finalists for the Council of Europe’s Václav Havel Prizewhich recognizes actions in defense of human rights, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Machado “is a prominent political figure in Venezuela, committed to denouncing human rights violations in her country and defending democracy and the rule of law,” the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said.

The work of Maria Corina Machado in Venezuela

The candidate played a key role leading the opposition in Venezuela’s last presidential election. Although the authorities declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner, the opposition claims that its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia won.

The Attorney General’s Office announced on August 5 that it had opened an investigation against González Urrutia and María Corina Machado after they asked the Armed Forces to stop repressing protests that broke out after the results were published and turn their backs on Maduro.

In addition to the Venezuelan opposition leader, the other two finalists for the prestigious award are Azerbaijani political activist Akif Gurbanov, who was arrested in 2024, and Georgian feminist Babutsa Pastaraia.

When is the Council of Europe Prize awarded?

The Václav Havel Prize, created in 2013 and worth 60,000 euros (66,940 dollars at current exchange rates), rewards exceptional actions by civil society in defence of human rights.

The 2024 laureate will be announced at the start of the Assembly’s plenary session on 30 September in Strasbourg, north-eastern France. In 2023, the prize was awarded to imprisoned Turkish patron Osman Kavala.