MADRID 11 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, this Friday “strongly condemned the arrests of opponents in Venezuela” and urged the authorities to release those detained “arbitrarily” after the demonstrations over the controversial inauguration of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
“(Guterres) strongly condemns the detention of a large number of people, including opposition figures, journalists and human rights defenders, since the presidential elections of July 28,” his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, stressed at a press conference. .
In this sense, he has asked the authorities to guarantee and respect his human rights, as well as to release “all arbitrarily detained people.”
“The Secretary General understands the frustration of a large part of the Venezuelan population and believes that the path to a peaceful Venezuela requires full respect for Human Rights and human dignity and that is why he is so concerned about the arrests we have seen since July , but especially in recent days,” he said.
Thus, Guterres has added that “a peaceful solution to the political crisis requires full respect for Human Rights, including the right to freedom of expression, to hold opinions without interference and to peaceful assembly.”
Previously, the UN team in Caracas had called for “guaranteeing and respecting human rights” in the country, highlighting that “inclusive dialogue is key to the well-being and peace of all the Venezuelan people.”
At the end of July, Venezuela held presidential elections in which the ruling party gave victory to Maduro, although the opposition denounced fraud in the vote count and claimed González’s victory, supported by part of the international community.
Although González had assured that he would travel to Venezuela this Friday to take office, in the end this was not the case. Maduro, for his part, who had also assured that he would be sworn in as president of the country, received the presidential sash in an event at the National Assembly in Caracas surrounded by authorities and representatives from more than a hundred countries.