The Council of Europe on Monday awarded its 2024 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize to Venezuelan politician and human rights defender Maria Corina Machado for her fight for democracy under the iron-fisted rule of President Nicolas Maduro.

Addressing the assembly remotely, Corina Machado said she was "deeply moved, honored and grateful" to be the first Latin American to win the distinction.

"I want to dedicate this recognition to the millions of Venezuelans who, every day, embody Havel's values and ideas," she added.

The Council of Europe human rights award is named after the late Czech dissident, playwright and post-communist president Vaclav Havel.

The other two shortlisted nominees were Azerbaijani human rights defender and activist Akif Gurbanov, who is currently held in pre-trial detention in Baku, and Georgian feminist activist and human rights lawyer Babutsa Pataraia, who was present at the ceremony.

Who is Corina Machado?

Maria Corina Machado is the co-founder and former director of the Venezuelan election monitoring and civil rights group Sumate. She is also a former member of the Venezuelan National Assembly, and currently the national coordinator of the political movement Vente Venezuela. 

She was barred from running in Venezuela's recent presidential election and went into hiding in August 2024. She stated that she feared for her life, her freedom, and that of her fellow citizens.

Corina Machado claims July's presidential election was stolen by strongman Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelan prosecutors are investigating her and opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia for publishing alleged results of the presidential election. 

Both face arrest, and Gonzalez Urrutia has had to flee the country. He was later recognized by the EU Parliament as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

dh/nm (AFP, Council of Europe)