Venezuelan freedom fighter María Corina Machado winner of 2024 Václav Havel Prize

The winner of the 2024 Václav Havel Prize is María Corina Machado, a fighter for political freedom and citizens' rights in Venezuela, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Theodoros Rusopulos, announced on Monday.

Machado is a leading political figure in Venezuela engaged in denouncing human rights abuses in her country and defending democracy and the rule of law. She is the co-founder of the Venezuelan volunteer civil organisation ‘Súmate’ for civil and political freedom, rights and citizen participation. The other two finalists are imprisoned Azerbaijani political activist Akif Gurbanov and Georgian feminist activist and lawyer Babuca Patarai.

The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize rewards outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights in Europe and beyond.