Venezuelan opposition leaders win the EU’s top human rights prize

BRUSSELS (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia have won the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola lauded the two for their fight for democracy. Machado ran as the democratic opposition candidate in Venezuela’s contested 2024 presidential election, but she was disqualified by the government, so González took her place. Machado’s group insists that González won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin against Venezuela’s authoritarian incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro. The EU award was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and basic freedoms. González said Thursday that he is “honored and grateful” to have won it.