Maura in an act of the Venezuelan opposition./ Photo: @FMauraB
The Diplomat. 07/07/2018
Ciudadanos Parliamentary Group asked the Government if it intends to raise before the United Nations Human Rights Council, of which Spain is currently part, political persecutions in Venezuela.
In a parliamentary question from MP Fernando Maura, Ciudadanos has accused the Bolivarian regime of Nicolás Maduro of having increased his persecution of the political opposition in recent months, for which «he has not hesitated to twist the rule of law and violate the rights and fundamental freedoms of Venezuelans”.
An example of this, he continues, is the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela to introduce a new crime of «treason against the fatherland and terrorism» aimed at opposition leaders who promote or ask for international sanctions against the regime. The penalties for this crime could range from sixteen to thirty years in prison.
According to Maura, opposition leader Leopoldo López has already been sentenced to fourteen years for terrorism, specifically for organizing the 2014 protests, but this new step «would increase the pressure of this political persecution» and could target opposition leaders. Julio Borges, Henrique Capriles, Henry Ramos Allup, Maria Corina Machado or Henri Falcón.
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Maura denounces the use of the crime «treason against the fatherland and terrorism» to persecute the opposition
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Therefore, Citizens asks the Government to take a stance on «this upsurge in the crime of treason and terrorism by the Bolivarian regime and its use to repress the political opposition in Venezuela» and asks whether it plans to «address the serious situation of rape of the rights and fundamental freedoms in Venezuela in its bilateral relations with the regime of Nicolás Maduro».
Likewise, Fernando Maura asks the Government if he plans to «raise the persecution of the political opposition in Venezuela before the Human Rights Council of the United Nations».
