There are already nine Latin American countries that have taken a stand against the arrest order of a Venezuelan court against the opposition leader. Among them are Brazil and Colombia. On the other hand, Human Rights Watch has denounced a “surprisingly brutal” repression.
The arrest warrant against the Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia has provoked an international response of widespread rejection. Nicolás Maduro has reinforced an isolation in which he has lost support from Colombia, Brazilthe European Union as well as different international organizations.
There are nine Latin American countries that have positioned themselves against: Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. All of them rejected the arrest order of a Venezuelan court against the opposition leader.
They reproach Maduro for bankruptcy of fundamental rights in Venezuela especially the harassment and persecution of the opposition. Both Brazil and Colombia expressed their “deep concern” and denounced that the “judicial measure seriously affects the commitments assumed by the Venezuelan Government under the Barbados Agreementsin which the Government and opposition reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen democracy and promote a culture of tolerance and coexistence”.
In a joint statement, the presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petroand Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvaconsidered that this decision “makes it difficult to find a peaceful solution, based on dialogue between the main Venezuelan political forces.”
Argentina, for its part, denounced that “the regime intends to curtail the fight for democracy and freedom, going after opposition leaderswho are victims of ruthless political persecution, violating all their fundamental rights in a framework of state terrorism“.
Both the Government of Ecuador like that of Paraguay They rejected the arrest warrant for González Urrutia. The Government of Paraguay demanded “guarantees regarding his physical integrity and the cessation of political persecution.”
Ecuador stressed that “political persecution, disrespect for the separation of powers and the guarantees of due process.”
More voices of support
The high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Joseph Borrell, He asked the Government of Venezuela “to respect his freedom, integrity and human rights.”
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterressaid he was following “very closely” the situation in Venezuela, “including the arrest warrant against opposition leader Edmundo González.”
“Arrest more than eight million Venezuelans”
González Urrutia’s campaign team called the measure “illegal, unconstitutional and immoral.” They assure that what the arrest seeks is to “arrest more than eight million Venezuelans who voted for him, without counting the more than four million Venezuelans abroad who were prevented from exercising their right to vote.”
The Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office accuses González Urrutia of “usurpation of functions, forging of a public document, instigation to disobedience of laws, conspiracy, sabotage to damage systems and association (of criminals).
The Venezuelan opposition grouped in the Democratic Unitary Platform He published what he defined as “83.5% of the electoral records.” From the data released, they assure that González Urrutia won the elections.
The Government of Chile reiterated in a publication on the X network of its president Gabriel Boric the non-recognition of the electoral results released by the Government of Nicolás Maduro.
Human Rights Watch denounces “surprisingly brutal” repression
The Venezuelan authorities are committing “widespread human rights violations against protesters, opponents and critics”, but also “evident” after the controversial re-election of President Nicolás Maduro, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced this Wednesday.
“The repression we are witnessing in Venezuela is shockingly brutal,” he said in the report. Juanita Goebertusdirector of HRW for the Americas. “Human Rights Watch found that Venezuelan authorities and pro-government armed groups known as collectives committed widespread abuses, including murdersarbitrary arrests and prosecutions and harassment of critics,” the document states.
ADVERTISINGAfter the announcement of the re-election of Nicolás Maduro, the Spontaneous demonstrations left 27 dead and 192 injured, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.
“Credible evidence collected by Human Rights Watch implicates security forces, including the Bolivarian National Guard already Police in some murders. In other cases, pro-government armed groups appear to be responsible. For years, the so-called “collectives” intimidate and harass to those who criticize them and denounce them to the Government, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods“, subraya la ONG.
