Michelle Bachelet denounced that the Nicolás Maduro regime murdered more than 2,000 people between January and August of this year

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, walks with his wife, Cilia Flores; the Minister of
Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, and the head of the Strategic Operational Command of the
Armed Forces, Remigio Ceballos. The dictator and the military are identified by the UN as
responsible for crimes against humanity in Venezuela (Reuters)

Venezuela. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights presented an update on her report on the situation in Venezuela and noted that there are "high numbers of deaths of young people in marginalized neighborhoods as a result of security operations"

“I am concerned about the high numbers of deaths of young people in marginalized neighborhoods as a result of security operations. My office registered 711 deaths from June to August, reaching more than 2,000 deaths since January 2020, ”Bachelet told the Human Rights Council.

Michelle Bachelet - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

She then said that her office continues to document cases of repression in peaceful protests in Venezuela, under the "state of alarm", including arrests and deaths of protesters. "In Venezuela, restrictions on freedom of expression, the application of the Hate Law, attacks on defenders and journalists continue," he stressed.

She also denounced her concern about the stigmatizing speeches of the country's authorities, which hold those who return responsible for introducing the coronavirus into Venezuelan territory. "33% of the deaths from COVID-19 in Venezuela have been of health personnel, mainly due to the lack of protective equipment and water," she denounced.

Finally, she argued that the pandemic was added to other pre-existing emergencies, such as food. She said that the rate of acute malnutrition in children is around 15% and that some stop eating so that another family member can do so.

This update came after an International Mission commissioned by the UN to investigate the human rights situation in Venezuela once again focused on the brutality of the Venezuelan regime.

In the 21 pages, the dictator Nicolás Maduro and her defense ministers, Vladimir Padrino López; and from the Interior, Néstor Reverol, as leading figures in serious crimes committed by the country's security forces. The report offers extensive information "that shows that the State authorities -both at the presidential and ministerial levels- exercised power and supervision over the civil and military security forces, and the agencies identified as perpetrators of the violations and documented crimes."

The Mission found numerous acts of torture. In a list, she identified the nine techniques of the Chavista forces to hurt political prisoners:

- Heavy beatings.

- Suffocation with toxic substances and water.

- Stress positions.

- Prolonged confinement in solitary confinement under harsh conditions.

- Sexual and gender-based violence, including forced nudity and rape.

- Cuts and mutilations.

- Electric shocks.

- Use of drugs to induce confession.

- Psychological torture.

The report offers extensive information "that shows that the State authorities - both at the presidential and ministerial levels - exercised power and supervision over the civilian and military security forces, and the agencies identified as perpetrators of the documented violations and crimes."

“Some of these acts caused serious and / or permanent physical injury. This included the loss of sensory or motor functions, reproductive injuries, abortions, blood in the urine and broken ribs ”, explains the UN mission. The horrors of the Maduro regime, they add, also led to severe psychological trauma and depression.

In three cases investigated by the Mission, the DGCIM perpetrated acts of sexual or gender-based violence against the soldiers detained during interrogations to degrade, humiliate or punish them. “DGCIM officials of both sexes subjected people to forced nudity, sometimes for days. The male guards threatened to rape detainees with sharp objects, mainly sticks and bats, and in one case they raped a detainee. Electric shocks and blows were administered, even to the testicles ”, he details.

After the report was released, the president in charge of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, called on those who still recognize Maduro as a Venezuelan authority. “The UN Report puts Maduro at the level of the atrocious crimes committed by Gaddafi. No one can have any doubt at this time that there is a criminal regime in Venezuela, "he declared.

Source: Infobae

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights would have received illegal contributions

Leo Pinheiro former boss of the OAS construction company

September 16th 2019

Entrepreneur investigated by case Lava Jato links OAS and Lula with Bachelet campaign in Chile. Léo Pinheiro, former construction boss, said he delivered 101.6 million pesos (about USD 145,000) to finance the campaign of the then candidate for President of Chile, at the request of the former Brazilian President.

In the midst of the investigation into the Lava Jato case, which investigates a wide network of corruption between politicians and contractor companies in Brazil, businessman Léo Pinheiro revealed in his judicial statement that the company he ran, the construction company OAS, illegally financed the presidential campaign of Michelle Bachelet in 2013, at the request of former President Lula da Silva.

As part of the delation agreement negotiated with the Public Ministry, according to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, Pinheiro mentioned the former Brazilian president as a business intermediary between the aforementioned company and the Governments of Costa Rica and Chile, as well as revealed an alleged interference in other countries such as Bolivia and Equatorial Guinea.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began serving a 12 year prison sentence in 2018 for corruption

In the case of Chile, Pinheiro -who has been detained since 2016- said that the Brazilian company was trying to establish itself in 2013, by joining the consortium that sought to build a bridge in the Chacao canal, a process initiated during the Government of Sebastián Piñera, but that would be specified in the subsequent administration. It was an election year, where New Majority flag bearer Michelle Bachelet was the favorite to return to La Moneda.

In that sense, according to the testimony revealed by Folha, OAS was afraid of losing the contract with the change of government, a concern that they transmitted to Lula. The former president replied that he discussed the issue with former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, who in turn would have guaranteed that the construction company would continue with the concession.

Likewise, Pinheiro assured that Lula asked for money to finance the Bachelet campaign, in order to secure the concession. This is how, according to the businessman, the Brazilian company paid 101.6 million pesos "in the interest of the Bachelet campaign". This amount, he said, was delivered through a fictitious contract with the company Martelli y Asociados after the end of the campaign.

Lula Da Silva supporting Michelle Bachelet (2013)

However, after the Lava Jato case broke out in Brazil and OAS interference was investigated, the construction company withdrew from the concession in the Chacao canal.

According to Folha, Léo Pinheiro also revealed shares of his company in other countries, with the intervention of Lula. That was the case of Bolivia where, according to the former director, OAS was awarded the construction of a road between the cities of Potosí and Tarija in 2003 at the request of the leader of the PT, whose government at that time had differences with the administration of Evo Morales. It was not an easy project, since it had been initiated in 2003 by Queiroz Galvao, a company that broke into a conflict with the Bolivian government, breaking the contract in 2007. This opened a diplomatic impasse that Brasilia wanted to avoid.

In this way, Pinheiro assured that the then Brazilian President promised OAS to obtain another contract in Bolivia as compensation for taking a problematic project.

Another case cited by the former president of OAS was the intervention of Lula in Costa Rica. In 2011, the former president was hired by the Brazilian company, through the payment of USD 200,000, for a conference, and managed a meeting between Pinheiro and former Costa Rican head of state Óscar Arias.

Likewise, the businessman met with the then President Laura Chinchilla to negotiate the obtaining of public concessions, a business that took shape.

Léo Pinheiro is syndicated as one of those responsible for OAS in a huge plot of corruption that includes the delivery of a triplex by the construction company to former President Lula, made by which the former ruler was sentenced to 9 years in prison, penalty which he is serving in a criminal enclosure in Curitiba.

September 17th 2019

Bachelet and alleged relationship between her campaign and Brazilian construction company: "I have not had any link with OAS." I do not know if there will be a background behind this, "said the former President, after a Brazilian publication said that in 2013 her campaign would have received contributions from the company.

Former Chilean President and current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The former President and current High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN, Michelle Bachelet, spoke about the supposed link between the OAS company and the financing of her campaign in 2013. "I have never had a link with OAS, nor with no other company, "said Bachelet, also describing as" strange that this information now appears on topics that are quite speculative such as the Chacao Bridge, which the truth is that it was awarded during the Government of Sebastián Piñera and not during mine. " .

Source: Emol.com

United Nations Report: Human Rights in Venezuela

Crisis in Venezuela: The devastating conclusions of Bachelet's report on the situation in Venezuela

📖 Complete UN Report: Human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

A report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of Human Rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was presented on July 04th 2019.

For her report, Michelle Bachelet, who visited the country between June 19th and 21st, interviewed more than 558 people, most of them victims of abuse and witnesses.

The government of Nicolás Maduro rejected Bachelet's conclusions as "not objective or impartial" and presents a "selective and openly biased view of the true situation of human rights" in the country.

"Corruption" in a country with 3.7 million malnourished

Bachelet concludes that in Venezuela the economic rights of citizens are also violated.

"The diversion of resources, corruption and lack of maintenance in public infrastructure, as well as underinvestment, have resulted in violations of the right to an adequate standard of living, among others, due to the deterioration of basic services such as public transportation and access to electricity, water and natural gas" says the report.

The right to food of Venezuelans is not going through its best, according to the conclusions of the report, which states that "the main food assistance program, known as 'CLAP boxes', does not cover the nutritional needs that are essential for people".

Content of CLAP Box - USD Cost in green

The government of Nicolás Maduro repeatedly denied that Venezuela suffered any humanitarian crisis.

In recent times it has begun to accept the help of organizations such as the Red Cross, but it maintains that the economic problems of the country are due to economic sanctions and "the criminal blockade" imposed by the United States.

The commission's report also addresses this issue and recalls that "the Venezuelan economy, especially its oil industry and food production systems, were already in crisis before any sectoral sanctions were imposed."

The figures it collects give an idea of ​​the magnitude of the problem. It estimates that between November 2018 and February 2019, "1,557 people died due to lack of supplies in hospitals."

Through a document released on July 4th, the government of Nicolás Maduro submitted 70 "observations" that account for what he considers to be errors contained in the Bachelet report.

The report includes the closure of dozens of print media, radio stations and television channels, as well as the increase in the arrests of journalists, including those of foreign journalists who ended up being expelled from the country.

When asked by journalists, Bachelet explained that there is no deadline to comply with the numerous recommendations made by his Office. This gives the government more time to try to overcome the countless problems it faces before the international community.

                           

                                Human Rights Watch: Torture of Presumed Conspirators (video)

Ten things you should know about the human rights crisis in Venezuela

Amnesty International - February 2019

The human rights crisis that has affected Venezuela for some years has destroyed the lives of millions of people. This is what you have to know:

1. Massive protests

The origin of most of the current disturbances in Venezuela can be traced back to March 29th 2017, when the Supreme Court of Justice, with the backing of President Nicolás Maduro, took control of the National Assembly, where the majority of the seats are of the opposition. That triggered massive protests between April and June that were suppressed by the Maduro government.

According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, in 2018 the record of 12,715 protests was reached throughout the country. These have continued in 2019, after the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, called mass demonstrations against Maduro. 

2. Excessive use of force

Between April and July 2017, more than 120 people died, some 1,958 were injured and more than 5,000 were arrested in mass protests. In the Amnesty report Nights of terror: Illegal attacks and raids on homes in Venezuela, the organization revealed how Venezuelan security forces and armed civilian groups endorsed by the government violently burst into people's homes to intimidate them and thus discourage them from participating in demonstrations or any other form of protest.

From January 21st to 25th, at least 41 people died in circumstances linked to the mass protests, all of them from bullet wounds. More than 900 people were arbitrarily detained.

3. A policy of repression

Although the state authorities have been applying a systematic policy of repression throughout the crisis, recent guidelines indicate that it is intensifying.

The recent investigation carried out by Amnesty International showed that Venezuelan security forces under Maduro had carried out targeted executions as their policy of repression had been extended. This situation especially affected impoverished areas of Caracas and other parts of the country, where the victims were later presented as "delinquents" killed in clashes with the authorities.

Of the 41 victims killed in the context of protests in early 2019, Amnesty International documented six extrajudicial executions by security forces backed by the State and excessive use of force by authorities under the command of Nicolás Maduro.


In the 2018 report This is not life: Citizen security and the right to life in Venezuela, Amnesty revealed that the security forces used lethal means, with the intention of killing, against the most vulnerable and socially excluded people in the country under the pretext of " fight crime. "

4. Youngers in custody

State authorities have been using the justice system to illegally harass those who think differently from them. According to the Venezuelan organization Foro Penal, between January 21st and 31st 2019, 988 people were arbitrarily arrested. Among them were 137 children and adolescents, of whom 10 are still in custody. Allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees have also been received. As of January 31st 2019, Penal Forum estimated that there were 942 people detained for political reasons. Although many have been released, most of them still face trial.

5. Civilians tried in military courts

People detained for participating in protests are often tried by military courts, which is contrary to international law. The people prosecuted face, among others, charges related to association with the intention of instigating the rebellion and attack on a sentinel, designed expressly for military personnel, which is another proof of the authorities' determination to silence dissent. According to Foro Penal, 817 people were tried in military courts between April 2017 and January 2019.

6. Three million refugees and migrants

It is estimated that more than three million people have fled Venezuela since 2015, the equivalent of 10% of the population, according to UN figures. Most have sought refuge in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Most mentions the denial of their rights to health and food as the main reason to leave the country. In other words, they flee to protect their life. Amnesty International has urged the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean to give Venezuelan refugees access to asylum procedures in their countries.

7. Repression of freedom of expression

There have been numerous reports of violations of the right to freedom of expression, such as the arbitrary detention and / or expulsion of at least 19 people working in the media, both Venezuelan and foreign. In January 2019, at least 11 journalists were detained in a single week, and many of them were expelled or deported from Venezuela, including Jorge Ramos and his team from the Univision TV network. Censorship and orders to close radio stations are widespread practice. The government closed 50 media outlets in 2017.

UNICEF / Santiago Arcos

8. The economic debacle

According to the National Assembly, in 2018 inflation was a shocking 1,698.488%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculates that, in 2019, the annual inflation rate will reach 10,000,000%. Meanwhile, the official minimum wage in Venezuela is USD 6 per month. And these are the income of a large part of the population. The inevitable result is that many people can not afford basic products.

The shortage of basic supplies such as food and medicine has left millions of people living in alarming conditions that get worse every day. The measures adopted by the state authorities have affected salaries and the rights of working people. Until 2013, the Venezuelan authorities made great progress in the area of ​​economic and social rights, but this trend has been reversed categorically in recent years.

9. The government denies it

Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly denied that the country is experiencing a human rights crisis. What is more harmful, refuses to recognize the shortage of food and medicine. The few official public statistics on the welfare of the population contrast with the reports of independent agencies.

Given that the authorities deny that there is a shortage, they have not accepted the international humanitarian aid that has been repeatedly offered. This has a catastrophic effect, especially on the most vulnerable people.

10. Harmful US sanctions

On January 28th, the US government announced new measures that prevent the Venezuelan state oil company from exporting crude oil to the United States, while prohibiting US suppliers from selling the products Venezuela needs to process its heavy crudes. Given that the Venezuelan economy depends to a large extent on the export of oil and that the United States is one of the main trade partners of Venezuela, it is likely that these measures will make the life of the people living in the country even more difficult.

Source: United Nations, Amnesty International, BBC.