Human rights organizations demand pronouncement of Rapporteurship for Extreme Poverty about US sanctions against Venezuela

In the framework provided by the 41st session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, a representation of Venezuelan social movements and organizations met Thursday in Geneva with Patricia Varela Benzo, member of the Special Rapporteurship for Extreme Poverty, with the purpose of denouncing the effects of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the government of the United States to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The meeting was propitious for the Venezuelan delegation to share a set of information related to the situation of Human Rights in the Latin American country, and to request an assessment of the impact of these measures on the fundamental rights of Venezuelans. “These coercive measures have impacted on the right to food but fundamentally on access to the right to health. We have asked for an assessment of how the quality of life of Venezuelans has been affected since 2014”, Lucrecia Hernández, director of Sures, an association dedicated to the study, education and defense of Human Rights, explained at the closure of the meeting. The human rights activist raised the need for the United Nations system and the Office of the Special Rapporteur to rule against the application of unilateral coercive measures against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, “and assess that the situation of social and economic crisis are fundamentally due to the coercive measures applied to our country”. Gabriel Aguirre, secretary general of the Committee of International Solidarity (COSI), highlighted the sincerity and productivity of the meeting, during which the Venezuelan delegation also denounced the threats against Venezuela in the economic, political, military and diplomatic fields. “Above all we have highlighted the role that the United Nations must play in this conflict, in this process. We have also pointed out how important is for Venezuela today to defend peace, to denounce the incessant aggressions against the people”, he added. The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system, composed of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights throughout the world.