During the EP plenary session (11-15 December 2017) in Strasbourg, Julio BORGES, President of the National Assembly of Venezuela and Antonio LEDEZMA, former mayor of Caracas, laureates of Sakharov Prize 2017, express themselves.

Strasbourg

interview

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2017 (T)

Democratic Opposition in Venezuela (VE)

Sakharov Prize 2017: interview of Julio BORGES and Antonio LEDEZMA, representatives of the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Julio BORGES, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, The recognition of Sakharov prize has a lot of meaning for us, not only because we&rsquo;ve gone through years of struggle, the most important thing is that we feel there is a real understanding of what happens in Venezuela, it is a problem that is not only local, within the border of the country, but it is a subject that includes universal problems.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Julio BORGES, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, The problem of the country is not only political, it is mostly humanitarian, and has in the conception of the Sakharov prize something very important, not only human rights and democracy, but freedom of conscience because the big problem in Venezuela is that we are facing a government that wants to be totalitarian and that wants to even kidnap the freedom of conscience of the people.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Julio BORGES, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, The parliament that I have the honour to preside has been the parliament that has had the most votes in the history of Venezuela, 14 million Venezuelans voted for this parliament, that is more than 75% of the population, a very high population that gave support to the parliament. And all Maduro's attempts, creating a constituent assembly, a kind of parallel parliament, have been rejected worldwide. The Venezuelan case has served to put at the centre of attention the core value which a parliament represents for any healthy democracy in the world.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Julio BORGES, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, When there is such a serious crisis of democracy and human rights, it is important to recognize the fundamental role that a parliament plays in reflecting plurality and in defending the democratic values.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Julio BORGES, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, The challenge we have is enormous: how to achieve in a few months that can give some rules of the game that give confidence again to the Venezuelan people and that we can have presidential elections that allow a democratic transition in Venezuela. I believe that this is the most decisive moment in the coming months in Venezuela and that the support of the European Parliament and European governments to put pressure on, so that there will be clean, fair and credible elections is fundamental.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Antonio LEDEZMA, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, This prize has to be for those who left us, for those who have died fighting for a democracy that they did not know, because between April and July of this year 130 Venezuelans died, most of them girls and boys who were not more than 20 years old, boys and girls who fought for democracy, who fought for a democracy that they did not get to know. That's why I feel that this is a recognition to the gallant Venezuelan people, to the millions of exiled who are like me scattered all over the world trying to escape the political persecution that Venezuelans are living today.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Antonio LEDEZMA, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, Venezuela needs the help of the international community, because in our country they are violating human rights, the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of thought and now that we are receiving the Sakharov prize, what better scenario than this for denounce it to the world, because Sakharov fought for that, fought for peace, for the progress of the people, fought to defend the human rights of the citizens of the world and that is precisely what is scarce in Venezuela today.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Antonio LEDEZMA, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, We are calling on the European Union to apply sanctions to individuals related to the regime who are in collusion with drug trafficking, with terrorism, who are responsible for the commission of crimes of violation of human rights, which are imbued with scandalous acts of corruption, that pressure be put so Venezuela can be reached by a humanitarian channel.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Antonio LEDEZMA, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2017, The hope is that Venezuelans will not lose faith, do not lose their impetus, and that the international community will not abandon us to our worst fate.