The Venezuela government responded on Tuesday to the communication sent by the Foreign Ministry of El Salvador, in which the exchange of kidnapped Venezuelans in that country in exchange for criminals convicted in Venezuela. In the note, the National Government greeted Salvadoran communication as a confession of its crimes against human rights.
The Venezuelan response considers that this letter as a “confession” and “expresses serious violations of international law … as well as the commission of acts that could be typified as international criminal actions.”
Among these actions, they list the violation of human rights to Venezuelan citizens deprived of their liberty arbitrarily, held in court or prior judgment and being victims of degrading and inhuman treatment.
Add collective criminalization and institutional xenophobia, by linking without evidence to those kidnapped with criminal gangs already dismantled in Venezuela. They also add the crime of denial of the right to defense, to access to justice and legal assistance.
In the opinion of the Venezuelan government, the proposal of “exchange” made by the Salvadoran government, constitutes an illegal and “morally inadmissible” situation, since it proposes to change innocents for sentenced criminals, which implies a “unprecedented legal aberration within the framework of bilateral relations.”
For this fact, the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, called the president of El Salvador as a “Serial Human Rights Violator”, Given the contempt of the Central American president for international law.
President Nicolás Maduro demanded the Salvadoran Government on Monday immediate and unconditional release of the 252 Venezuelan citizens Kidnapped in a maximum security prison, and held Nayib Bukele and his government for the effects that these citizens could suffer.
In this regard, San Salvador urges to reveal the identity of the kidnapped people, attest to each one’s life and specify what were the crimes they committed in the Central American country. The Government also asks for legal assistance, the right to health and communication, such as the beginning of the restitution of the freedoms of all the kidnapped.
