The National Assembly of Venezuela unanimously approved to declare nine people “persona non grata” former presidents Latin Americans, including Mexicans Vicente Fox y Felipe Calderon.
The president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, accused them of being “enemies of peace” for supporting the opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutiawho denounces fraud in the presidential elections of which Nicolas Maduro He was re-elected with accusations of fraud.
You might be interested in: Venezuelan opponents denounce attacks by Chavismo
Rodríguez pointed out that the former presidents, if they tried to enter Venezuela without authorization, would be treated as “invaders.”
The list also includes Andres Pastrana (Colombia), Mario Abdo Benítez (Paraguay), Mireya Moscoso and Ernesto Pérez Balladares (Panama), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia), Jamil Mahuad (Ecuador) and Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica).
Divided international community
The controversial decision arises after González Urrutia, considered fugitive from the Venezuelan governmentwill announce a tour of Latin America to claim his supposed victory in the elections. Rodríguez, a key piece of the Maduro system, assured that accompanying González Urrutia represents “an act of betrayal” and described the former presidents as “traitors and insolent”.
Amid threats of judicial persecution, Parliament supported the Chavista narrative of national defense. Meanwhile, the international community, including Mexico, Brazil and Chile, has requested electoral transparency in Venezuelademanding the publication of the ballots that Caracas refuses to disclose.
IACHR maintains that Maduro’s re-election lacks “democratic legitimacy”
For its part, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published the report “Venezuela, serious violations of human rights in the electoral context” when there are three days left before the presidential inauguration in Caracas.
Both the Chavista leader, Nicolas Maduroproclaimed winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE) – without the minutes having been published -, and his rival at the polls, the opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, exiled in Spain, plan to be sworn in next Friday.
“Electoral opacity, and, in general, restrictions on political rights (…) prevent this Commission from considering that the re-election of Nicolás Maduro enjoys democratic legitimacy,” states the IACHR.
You might be interested in: Denmark responds to Trump about interest in buying Greenland
The repression “included terrorism practices of State aimed, especially at instilling terror in citizens and silencing dissident voices,” he adds.
Among the documented violations, he cites extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture, cancellation of passports, deaths and violations of judicial guarantees and freedom of expression.
EAM