Last Thursday the Chilean famous communist Camila Vallejo posted a tweet criticizing Venezuela’s human rights record and taking for granted a very controversial and questionable report prepared by a so called “independent” UN fact finding mission. This position garnered her sever criticism among Chavistas all over Latin America and many assumed it was also the Chilean Communists Party position.
This Sunday — in a statement — the Chilean communist party made public its position about the report itself and many experts consider it was a way to distance itself from the opinion launched by Camila Vallejo on twitter: “I said it before and I insist on it: The UN reports on Venezuela are solid. Human rights violations are intolerable and cannot go unpunished in Venezuela or Chile. I hope that Venezuelans decide on their future without US military intervention.”
Lo dije antes y lo reafirmo: Los informes de la ONU sobre Venezuela han sido lapidarios.
Las violaciones a los DDHH son intolerables y no pueden quedar impunes ni en Venezuela ni en Chile. Espero q l@s venezolanos decidan sobre su futuro sin el intervencionismo militar de USA— Camila Vallejo Dowling (@camila_vallejo) September 17, 2020
RELATED CONTENT: Dissecting the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission Report on Venezuela
“Camila Vallejo seems to take as truth a very questionable report co-edited by her very own fellow Chilean Francisco Cox that worked as lawyer for questionable Chilean politicians and is an open admirer of dictator Augusto Pinochet. We of course can blame Vallejo for not checking the facts, the report itself and consulting with reliable Venezuelan sources that for sure will tell her (unless they are extremely right wing) that in Venezuela there is a high level of respect for human rights,” a political analyst said to Orinoco Tribune.
“But besides Vallejo’s responsibility, one has also to blame the lack of a proper international communication strategy from the Venezuelan government and also from some so-called communists or leftists outside and inside Venezuela, who sometimes use the right wing human rights narrative to attack Maduro’s government or to make denunciations that sometimes do not correspond with the truth.” he added. “In Venezuela as in many other countries, bad things happens in terms of human rights but the difference in Venezuela is that most of the time those responsible are put in front of the justice system, and high ranking government officials constantly discourage the use of force, even in war-like conditions that this country has suffered many times.”
Bellow some of the most relevant parts of the Chilean Communist Party statement:
- “…Without pretending to answer for the Venezuelan state, we state that we trust the efforts that the government of that country is currently deploying and will continue to develop, with the support of the international community, to overcome the crisis it is experiencing. Therefore, we are encouraged by the recent renewal of the cooperation pact between the government of Venezuela and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), after a year of their first meeting, in which it was agreed to triple the number of officials operating in the country and working towards the opening of an office in Venezuela, all the result of a process of constructive cooperation between the parties. It is the path that seeks social peace, which has borne fruit in the dialogue between the government and the democratic, non-coup opposition that is already one year old and advances to parliamentary elections.”
- Coincidentally, the “Report” on the human rights situation in Venezuela was publicized along with the tour that Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State of the United States, made to Colombia, Brazil and Guyana, with the manifest intention of supporting the coup sectors in Venezuela, which, led by Guaidó, insist on foreign intervention, in the face of their defeat in the country. This is what use and abuse of this “Report” is pointing at.
- This accusation against Venezuela, as recognized in the “Report”, is the result of work developed from outside the country, a text drawn up based on versions obtained remotely, in which there has been no real exchange with the authorities of that State, that is, lacking factual evidence, not an overview of the situations that have been experienced, so its references to acts at odds with human rights lacks rigor.
- The “Report” contextualizes the situation, noting that Venezuela continues to suffer from hyperinflation and a severe shortage of food and medicine, but does not say a word about the blockade and foreign interference led by the United States and Colombia, which is the main cause of this situation. Nor does it mention the massive return of Venezuelans to their country in recent times, of which Chileans are direct witnesses. Likewise, the report states that a part of the opposition has adopted many forms, among which it mentions 19 coup attempts and attempts against the life of the President, which only demonstrates the complex situation of coup and conspiratorial violence directed from abroad, from which the Venezuelan state has had to defend itself.
- Regarding the exhortation that Venezuela immediately initiate effective investigations, the “Report” omits the real situation communicated (beforehand) to the United Nations, that under the management of the judicial authorities of that country there are currently 517 officials already accused of torture or cruel treatment, inhuman or degrading, occurred between 2017 to March 2020, of which 167 are deprived of liberty. At the same time, 731 officials have been accused of the crime of homicide or violation of the right to life, of which 436 are in prison.
- It is clear that, it is also an advance, the result of the dialogue with the opposition and the commitments before the High Commissioner, when 110 detainees opposed to the government were pardoned, several of them facing charges of terrorism and sedition, colluded in attempted coups or foreign intervention.
- But this process (the parliamentary elections) is in jeopardy, and the final recommendation of the “Report” could serve this purpose, which, contrary to its own assertion, that the “reasonable grounds to believe” standard does not provide to prove criminal liability, suggests initiating legal action against representatives of the Venezuelan State according to the pertinent internal legislation of each country. This may be an excuse for those, like President Trump, Duque, Alamagro and others, who seek to subdue Venezuela through the use of force and impede the electoral process, the result of the agreement for democratic coexistence.
- The Communist Party of Chile, postulates the defense and respect of human rights and the political solution of controversies, including Venezuela. For this reason, it rejects, denounces and alerts about the escalation of communication, diplomacy and pressure towards third countries, articulated by the US administration, of which the Chilean government is part, in order to destabilize, discredit and intervene in this electoral process and create conditions for a new crisis with destabilizing purposes.
- At the same time, it rejects the double discourse of those in Chile who try to present themselves as human rights defenders and say nothing about the repression known to all, in our own country, resulting in deaths and serious disabling injuries, against popular demonstrations, or those who acted as accomplices and cover-ups for the crimes committed by the dictatorship and who intend to take advantage of the “Report” to raise their flagging campaign for the rejection of a New Constitution, through a hateful communication campaign of lies.
Featured image: File photo.
OT/JRE
