The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned “the attack” reported this week by Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and criticized President Nicolás Maduro for mentioning the possibility of “a bloodbath” and “a civil war” if he lost the election on Sunday, June 28.
On Friday, the IACHR and its Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RELE) warned in a statement about political persecution in Venezuela before the presidential election and urged the State to put an end to “repression and guarantee a free, competitive and participatory vote.”
Both organizations also accused President and re-election candidate Nicolás Maduro of trying to “intimidate and restrict the political freedom of the electorate” by publicly mentioning the possibility that the country could fall “into a bloodbath” if he does not win.
“These statements raise doubts about the possible transfer of power in the event of a favorable outcome for the opposition,” they warned in a statement.
This year, they noted, attacks on opposition leaders, arbitrary arrests of activists, journalists and members of opposition campaigns, including activist Rocío San Miguel, as well as closures of media and businesses, harassment of campaign committees and supporters and administrative disqualifications of candidates have been documented.
They considered that these attacks and “the absence of independent and impartial institutions (…) are part of a pattern of the government to perpetuate itself in power, through arbitrary acts, violations of human rights and without accountability.”
They urged the Venezuelan State to “adopt urgent measures aimed at rebuilding the separation and independence of public powers” and called on the international community to “continue monitoring” the election in the South American country.
They condemn the “attack” on Machado
Machado, leader of the Vente Venezuela movement, reported that unknown assailants had vandalized his vehicle and cut his brake cables while he was on an electoral campaign tour in Barquisimeto, in the western state of Lara.
In a brief statement published on its social media, the IACHR urged the Venezuelan State “to guarantee the safety of all persons with political leadership” and called on it to investigate “diligently and independently” what happened.
She also demanded that those responsible, both materially and intellectually, be punished. Machado described Thursday’s incident as “an attack” and shared images and a video of the van he was traveling in, its bodywork dented and painted with the slogan “no + blockade.”
The campaign enters its final stretch
One week before the end of the electoral campaign, the president of the Venezuelan parliament and head of Maduro’s command, Jorge Rodríguez, reiterated the official claim that the opposition is planning to claim fraud and generate violence in the election.
According to Rodriguez, the opposition would seek to “impose a situation that is not the one that the electoral machines and the scrutiny of the National Electoral Council show.” International news agencies and media would participate in this plot, he said.
Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia met with relatives of political prisoners on Friday and promised to free them if he wins the vote at the end of the month.
“My commitment is firm: a country where no one is persecuted for thinking differently. We will free political prisoners. Thank you to their families for allowing me to listen to them today,” he wrote on his X account.
President Maduro, for his part, visited Paraguaipoa, a town on the border with Colombia with a large indigenous population, in the west of the country, where he attacked “colonialism” and denounced the existence of a “racist right.”
He also promised to build a binational hospital “in 60 days or sooner” and to repair the highway that connects the city of Maracaibo with Maicao and even extend the work to Cartagena, if authorized by the government of Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
On Thursday, the deputy, evangelical pastor and presidential candidate Javier Bertucci also ruled out giving up his candidacy to support another candidate.
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