SANTIAGO – The Chilean Communist Party has criticized the UN report on the situation in Venezuela. The report by former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet lists the systematic tortures and killings under the Maduro regime. In a public statement the Communist Party mentions a “lack of impartiality” by the UN.
After the UN Chief for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet released her report on the situation in Venezuela on Thursday, the Communist Party (PC) in Chile released a public statement. The party criticized the tone-of-voice in the report and discusses that there are no mentions about “the coups d’état-attempts, the permanent threats of military intervention in Venezuela, nor the acts of destabilization by opposition sectors of the extreme right.”
The PC also mentions a possible “lack of impartiality” in the report, claiming the need to clarify “what could be understood as inconsistencies, contradictions, unfounded assumptions and generalizations”.
Political Outrage
The critical stance of the PC has generated outrage from political parties in Chile. Foreign Affairs Minister Teodoro Ribera said that “it is not good for the Chilean political system that its parties tend to diminish the scope of human rights violations in other countries.”
Mario Desbordes, president of one of the governing parties in political front Chile Vamos, said that the PC with their statement “demonstrates that they have no minimum democratic standards”.
But also from the Chilean opposition, politicians criticized the PC. Socialist Party member Marcelo Diaz stated that “the criticisms of the PC have no real basis. Our former president did what was expected of her: tell the truth.”
The Venezuela Report
After visiting Venezuela and speaking with government officials and opposition members, Human Rights Chieff Michelle Bachelet released a report on Thursday. The report mentions “gross violations” by the Maduro administration, who allegedly killed “at least 6,856 in confrontations with state forces since the beginning of 2018.”
The report states that political opponents are repressed and criminalized, democratic space has been restricted, allowing a pattern of grave violations.
“Women and men were subjected to one or more forms of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including electric shocks, suffocation with plastic bags, water boarding, beatings, sexual violence, water and food deprivation, stress positions and exposure to extreme temperatures”.
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Editor-In-Chief Boris van der Spek is the founder of Chile Today.