September 17 () –
The Conservatives and Reformists (ERC) group in the European Parliament — led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and to which VOX belongs — has nominated Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González for the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
The group itself announced this on Tuesday in a statement in which it praised González, and also that of opposition leader María Corina Machado, as a “brilliant symbol of the peaceful struggle for freedom and democracy” in Venezuela.
“Maduro is a sadistic and cruel tyrant who lives in a state of delirium, has rigged elections and works with criminals and drug traffickers to harass his people,” said Italian MEP Carlo Fidanza, who promoted the proposal, who also denounced that at least 25 people have died and another 2,500 have been arrested after the presidential elections at the end of July.
Fidanza has therefore urged the European Union to “do everything possible” to support the Venezuelan opposition, “ensuring that democracy has a chance to be restored in the country.” On this point, he has insisted on the need for the EU to recognise González as the legitimate president of the South American country.
This proposal by ERC comes less than two weeks after the Popular Party in the European Parliament proposed the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Machado and González, accompanied by a recognition of the opposition’s victory in the last elections by the European Parliament.
Venezuela held presidential elections on July 28 in which the ruling party gave victory to President Nicolás Maduro with just over 51 percent of the votes. However, the opposition has denounced that the elections were rigged and claims its victory.
González ran as an opposition candidate after Machado, a candidate chosen in primaries, was disqualified by the Venezuelan Supreme Court. González is now in Spain after fleeing Venezuela following a search warrant issued by the courts in her country.
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