High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet condemns new sanctions and supports political dialogue in Venezuela

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, reiterated on Tuesday her concern about the imposition of new unilateral coercive measures [badly called sanctions] to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from the United States, which undermine the fundamental rights of the Venezuelan people. In the oral update on the situation of human rights in Venezuela, in the context of the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the High Commissioner especially referred to the “sanctions” against the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services SA (Conviasa) and the state-owned oil company PDVSA. These measures, she warned, reduce the resources of the National Government for social spending, for which more than 70% of the country’s budget is available. Since 2014, more than 300 unilateral coercive measures have been adopted from the United States government to affect the functioning of the economy and undermine the human rights of the Venezuelan people. Consequently, there has been an abrupt decrease in the national oil revenue of Venezuela, which has gone from about 42 billion dollars in 2013 to 4 billion in 2018. The US administration announced last February new unilateral coercive measures against Conviasa, in an attempt to hit a Venezuelan company that provides a public service for both the Venezuelan people and other peoples of the world.

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On the other hand, she expressed her confidence that the necessary political agreements reached between the Venezuelan government and sectors of the opposition can be reached for the renewal of the National Electoral Council (CNE) and guarantee inclusive, transparent and credible elections. “I appreciate all the efforts made in that direction and I reiterate the call to all the parties to act with the level that the country deserves in order to avoid a greater escalation in the political confrontation that can be translated into violent actions”, she added.