What Is the State of Human Rights in Venezuela? Q: In its latest annual report, Human Rights Watch criticized Venezuela for an accumulation of power in the executive branch of government and for what it described as the erosion of human rights guarantees over the past decade that has enabled the government to intimidate, censor and prosecute its critics. The report also criticized countries including the United States (over Guantanamo prison), Canada (on indigenous issues) and Mexico (over vigilantes). How does Venezuela compare to other countries in the region on human rights? Are conditions getting worse in Venezuela for critics of Nicolás Maduro and his government? What is the state of the political opposition and civil society groups in Venezuela today? A: Diego Arria, member of the Advisor board : How could Human Rights Watch not consider accumulation of power in the executive branch when the judicial, legislative and electoral powers, as well as the attorney general and the comptroller general are all totally at its service? On top of that, the central bank and PDVSA as well as the armed forces have declared themselves socialist and revolutionary. Such power is more than enough to intimidate and censor and also to eliminate those who do not follow the official line. A perverse self-censorship dominates the media, but recently a new modality has emerged: the government bought Globovisión, the last independent television station, and Últimas Noticias, the daily with the largest national circulation, through private individuals (the Bolibourgeoisie) who have enriched themselves thanks to the regime. This means almost 90 percent total media control. Chávez left a terrible monumental legacy of human rights violations, more than any other country in the region. To try to prevent Venezuelans from denouncing human right violations, Nicolás Maduro last September withdrew Venezuela from the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Not one member country made a comment. Chávez was undoubtedly the original source and promoter of the present violent climate--so much that I represented a large group of citizens in denouncing him before the International Criminal Court at The Hague for crimes against humanity. However, Chávez met his maker before the culmination of the process.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:04:06 +0000