Venezuela is going through one of the darkest chapters of human rights in Latin America

Lapland

August 24, 2024, 12:14 PM

It has been almost a month since Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election, and the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE) remain the biggest point of criticism in the country.

Correspondence lapatilla.com

Since the early morning of Monday, July 29, when CNE President Nicolás Maduro declared the winner, the population began to show signs of discontent.

A large majority is convinced that opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia is the winner.

This confident vision is supported by the election results published by the Unitary Platform and is somehow confirmed by the behaviour of the governing party since then. This party has still not provided any evidence to support the results announced by the CNE, as required by law.

However, the actions of the Maduro government do not stop there. The persecution of opposition political leaders and anyone who questions the results has increased, as well as arbitrary arrests, repression of peaceful demonstrations and the sowing of fear through the discourse of the high government command.

A series of events led the coordinator of the Venezuelan NGO ‘Programme for Education-Action in Human Rights’ (Provea), Oscar Murillo, to conclude that Venezuela is going through one of the darkest chapters in Latin America in terms of human rights.

The expert compares the situation in the country with what Chile experienced during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, taking into account the number of arbitrary arrests and the story that widespread terror is being caused and that the civil and political rights of the population are being violated.

Human rights violated

Murillo said that one must be aware of the seriousness of what the Venezuelan government is doing. The abuse of state violence and non-state actors are particularly striking, especially the so-called ‘colectivos’ (collectives, armed gangs supported by the government).

“In this way, constitutional guarantees related to personal liberty, the right to life, the right to a fair trial, etc. are suspended. The rights to peaceful demonstration, freedom of expression and access to justice are also violated,” he explained.

The coordinator of Provea, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has closely followed the events of the past twenty days, stressed how sensitive the issue of the massive repression by the government during the post-election demonstrations is.

He pointed out that these actions usually involve the use of armed and pro-government citizens, in addition to security forces such as the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) or the Bolivarian National Police (PNB).

Punishment of the population

While it is true that in the past decade there have been emblematic periods of civil protests against the Maduro government, such as in 2014, 2017 and 2019, the situation for Murillo in 2024 is particular and alarming.

According to him, the abuses that were observed in Venezuela in the first two weeks of August are comparable to those of 2014 and 2017. However, this year there is something special: the excesses are greater and have occurred in a shorter period of time.

“The official figure (more than 2,000 people) corresponds to 46% of the arrests registered between April and August 2017. This is worrying because the 2017 protests can be considered the most important since ‘El Caracazo’ in 1989,” said the Provea coordinator.

He added that “in 2019, 31 killings of protesters were reported between February 21 and 24, while there were 24 between July 29 and 30, 2024.”

The university lecturer also highlighted the increase in the state’s terror mechanism, “which has deployed the repressive apparatus from the highest levels of power.”

For the human rights expert, everything is not only part of a plan to suppress popular violence, but also a punishment for the citizens. Murillo supported this theory with the fact that most of the repressive actions took place in popular neighborhoods, which showed a loss of what was a bastion of Chavismo.

It is worth noting that the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS) reported in mid-August that 75% of the suppressed protests took place in low-income neighborhoods. This is consistent with what Murillo said about the “punishment” by Maduro’s regime of areas where they had been undisputed winners in elections some time ago.

The spokesperson also stressed that there is a massification of political persecution with the widespread use of the so-called ‘anti-terrorism law’ and the ‘anti-hate law’.

He added that there has been a gradual shift from large-scale repression to specific repression, using a structure of informants within the communities.

He also recalled that in previous years the Maduro government called those who protested “coup conspirators,” while now they are called “fascists.”

He also mentioned that a “law against fascism” is in the making, which could even be applied to those who participate in demonstrations for wages, public services, etc.

Model to follow

Oscar Murillo said that in his opinion “we are witnesses and victims of a film in which we go from authoritarianism to totalitarianism. And the reference is the Nicaraguan model of Daniel Ortega”.

He added that the current Venezuelan government is doing nothing more than ignoring Article 5 of the National Constitution, which clearly states that the people are the sole owners of their own political destiny.

“Maduro’s totalitarian turn is the culmination of the destruction of democracy in Venezuela. There is no point of comparison. And we have had several authoritarian regimes throughout history,” the human rights expert said.

Murillo said what we have seen in Venezuela is similar to the satellite countries of the Soviet Union, where destruction reigned “at gunpoint and at the mercy of terror.”

“Republican democracy is under attack. The defense of the well-being of humanity has its epicenter in Venezuela. Global democratic leadership, including the European Union, Canada, the United States and others, is being tested in this corner of South America,” he stressed.

Justice

According to Provea Coordinator, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan, the strategy being applied in Venezuela needs to be re-evaluated so that victims of human rights violations and crimes against humanity receive justice.

Murillo explained that the prosecutor used a “model of positive complementarity” for the South American nation, something that is new and has not been used in other countries so far.

According to him, the ICC used this mechanism because the Venezuelan government was theoretically willing to address the main reason for which it is accused, namely political persecution.

However, in recent weeks it has become clear that the opposite was happening, as there was a ‘repressive escalation’.

The expert stressed that there is no political will to administer justice from the country’s legal system, because “Maduro, the courts and the Public Prosecutor’s Office together form a repressive machine.”

Murillo recalled that in international justice there are deadlines and processes that must be respected, although he pointed out that prosecutor Khan is already about to present a case.

He also indicated that while Maduro’s regime wants to legalize persecution with “hate or anti-fascist laws,” the United Nations (UN) also monitors compliance with human rights according to international standards.

He also noted that the “NGO Regularization Law” is related to this, as there are organizations in Venezuela that register with the ICC.

Pillars

According to Oscar Murillo, Venezuelans must cling to two fundamental pillars in the current dark and turbulent situation: family and solidarity.

The professor, who expressed his support for the families who are victims of the repression, believes that this support should continue.

“Despite the feeling of hopelessness, frustration and pain as a result of all the blows I have received,” he stressed.

Finally, he pointed out that the human rights crisis in Venezuela can only be resolved if the institutions resume their role and mandate.

He also indicated that “Maduro’s entrenchment is causing a stagnation in government policies that we should all talk about.”