Human Rights Watch warn that military intervention only supports Maduro narrative.
- By : Panama Now
- Category : International Relations
A military intervention in Venezuela would only serve to reinforce the narrative of Nicolás Maduro, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) responsible for America, José Miguel Vivanco, for whom the key to a solution for the country is the increase in international pressure .
“There is no appetite in Latin America and in Europe” for an option of a military nature, which would be “highly counterproductive,” Vivanco said in an interview with Efe in Madrid, where he participated in the debate “State of Law and Human Rights in the Americas “, within the framework of the World Law Congress.
For that reason, he added “it is very important not to leave the script with threats or bravado that only weaken international pressure instead of strengthening it”.
For Vivanco, the situation in Venezuela is an unprecedented “historical” event. “We have never seen anything like this in the history of Latin America, only perhaps the last year of South Africa with ‘apartheid’, when Nelson Mandela was still in prison.”
The valuable thing of that process, in his opinion, is that there is a “genuine national internal movement”, with the “great majority of the people demonstrating peacefully” and without acts of violence, since the government forces “have not dared to repress” .
Secondly, Vivanco highlights the international pressure “that was born in Latin America, obviously with the central accompaniment of the United States, whose support is bipartisan, not just Trump.” And also from Europe, except Italy, a country that has a “difficult to understand” position.
A general consensus based, in his opinion, on the basis of humanitarian aid, free elections, respect for fundamental rights and a transition: “They are the key components, there is no consensus on the use of force.”
“If it is about weakening this coalition of states that exert pressure against the dictatorial regime of Maduro, then that Trump continues insisting that it contemplates the military option,” he stressed.
According to HRW, from 2014 to date more than 13,000 people have been detained in Venezuela, “in some cases for months and years.”
In that same period, 852 people have passed through military courts, “without the right to defense, to think differently, to protest in the streets, some for looting of supermarkets and crimes that can be described as crimes against property.”
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