Machado celebrates extension of the UN mission in Venezuela

Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado considers it a “very important achievement” the two-year extension approved this Friday at the UN Human Rights Council of the work of the independent international fact-finding missionwhich has been investigating alleged violations of fundamental freedoms in the country since 2014.

Machado described as “crucial” the resolution that establishes the renewal and that also “condemns the human rights violations by the Venezuelan regime,” said the opponent, referring to the government of Nicolás Maduro.

He stated that the “isolation of the regime is increasingly greater and more evident” because – he noted – “only six countries (Algeria, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Sudan and Vietnam) voted against” the resolution, while 23 voted in favor and 18 abstained, including Brazil and Honduras, allies of chavismo.

«We appreciate the support and firmness of the different countries in the fight for justice and democracy in Venezuela. Venezuelans, we move forward,” said Machado.

Very important achievement today in Geneva!!

The United Nations Human Rights Council approved a crucial resolution for Venezuela, in which it condemns human rights violations by the Venezuelan regime and extends the mandates of the Mission… pic.twitter.com/VhKOWna4YV

— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) October 11, 2024

Politicians and opposition parties, as well as non-governmental organizations, They also celebrated, through messages in X, the renewal of the mission, created in 2019 and chaired by the Portuguese jurist Marta Valiñas and completed by experts Francisco Cox (Chile) and Patricia Tappatá (Argentina).

For Primero Justicia, the world “knows that Nicolás Maduro’s regime does not ensure a justice system that protects and guarantees human rights,” for which the political organization thanked the nations that voted in favor and that denounced “serious violations.” in the country.

The resolution urges the Venezuelan authorities to cooperate with the mission, as well as with the UN Office for Human Rights, whose local representation in Venezuela was expelled in February.

The text deeply regrets that decision and also expresses alarm at “the worsening of violations and transgressions of human rights and the increase in restrictions on civic and democratic space,” especially in the context of the presidential elections on July 28.

The Maduro Executive rejected, in “the strongest terms,” ​​the renewal of what it called a “despicable” and “shameful” missionwhich he considers “a clear example of the misplacement of the institutions of the United Nations System, which have become instruments of coercion and blackmail against sovereign peoples and governments,” according to an official statement.