AREQUIPA, Peru – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented a report to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) on Wednesday, highlighting the violations, repression and deaths in Venezuela following the July 28 elections.
The medium CNN in Spanish The report includes the intervention of Roberta Clarke, president of the IACHR, who indicated that the deaths are “attributable to state forces, military forces, police and groups that act with the consent of the State.”
The board also denounced the arbitrary arrests of opponents and the harassment of Venezuelans who reject the results announced by the pro-government National Electoral Council (CNE), which accredited the victory at the polls to the ruler Nicolás Maduro without presenting the electoral records that would support the fact.
Clarke called for an end to the persecution of human rights defenders and the restoration of democracy.
“We are calling on the State to immediately end the criminalization, harassment and persecution of human rights defenders. Democracy, order and the rule of law must be restored,” said the Commissioner.
The post-election panorama described in the IACHR report was described as “chilling” by the United States ambassador to the OAS, Francisco Mora.
The situation outlined by Clarke contrasts with the position of Venezuela’s Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, who has blamed supporters of the main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), for the violence in the country.
One month before the elections, the CNE has not shown the breakdown of the results while accusing the PUD of publishing false minutes.
Meanwhile, documents published by the coalition’s main platform, after being collected by volunteers at the polling stations, show that Edmundo González Urrutia was the winner of the elections by a wide margin.
This Wednesday, thousands of Venezuelan opponents protested against the results announced by the CNE and recently ratified by the Supreme Court of Justiceboth controlled by the dictatorship.
“We are not the opposition, we are the government,” wrote 61-year-old Maria Jose de Castro on a banner. “Chavismo’s option is to fight to the death, ours is to fight until we win. Venezuela has no more time to lose, we don’t have (another presidential term of) six years to give to these people.” the protester indicated to the agency AFP.
For her part, the leader María Corina Machado since 9:00 AM on August 28 once again called on the Venezuelan people to defend Edmundo González’s victory in the elections.
“Today, one month after our glorious victory on July 28, we Venezuelans unite, inside and outside our country, and we shout with vigor! At 12:00 PM Venezuela time, wherever you are, let us sing together and with pride our National Anthem! Glory to the brave people! Let us go to the streets with your family and your flag!” wrote Machado on X (formerly Twitter).
The demonstrations take place a day after Maduro appointed as head of the Interior Ministry, responsible for the police and public order, Diosdado Cabelloconsidered the second most relevant figure of Chavismo.
Venezuelan prosecutors, who are subordinate to Maduro, have opened a criminal investigation against Machado and González, who have gone into hiding. Chavista authorities are pursuing the leaders while blaming them for the acts of violence during the post-election protests.
According to the organization Foro Penal, since July 28, the Chavista dictatorship has arrested 1,780 Venezuelans, including 114 minors.
