Leopoldo López asked the UN Human Rights Council to back Venezuela’s democratic transition after Mission report
Voluntad Popular national head Leopoldo López urged the UN Human Rights Council on Monday to back a democratic transition in Venezuela and the fight against the Cartel de los Soles, after a new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.
Originally published by Voluntad Popular ·
Written by Staff, Voluntad Popular
Republished by Eyleen Valiente ·
Read the original: voluntadpopular.com/leopoldo-lopez-pidio-al-consejo-de-dd-hh-de-la-onu-apoyar-la-transicion-democratica-en-venezuela-tras-informe-de-la-mision
The national head of Voluntad Popular (VP), Leopoldo López, urged the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday to support the transition to democracy in Venezuela and the fight against the Cartel de los Soles, following the publication of the new report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, which documents serious crimes committed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
“This report confirms what we Venezuelans know all too well. Nicolás Maduro stays in power through systematic repression, torture and electoral fraud,” López said in his speech.
He asserted that Venezuela cannot be considered “an imperfect democracy,” but rather “an apparatus of power that has destroyed the rule of law, has collapsed the economy, has generated a complex humanitarian crisis and has displaced a third of the population.”
According to the VP leader, the Mission’s findings document “enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence against detainees and the imprisonment of children on terrorism charges.”
In this context, he recalled that his own history reflects that persecution: “Ten years ago I was sentenced to 14 years in prison for denouncing Maduro as a narco, a repressor and corrupt. The same accusations that this report confirms today.”
López stressed that the Venezuelan crisis has a political and a criminal component. He recalled that in 2020 the United Nations recognized the existence of the Cartel de los Soles and maintained that “today we know that it is not a parallel group, but the State transformed into a cartel that traffics drugs, launders money and exports violence.”
The leader also referred to the result of the recent elections: “On July 28, Venezuela elected Edmundo González. However, Maduro struck a blow against popular sovereignty and remains in power by force, with the backing of Russia, China, Iran and other autocratic countries.”
Faced with this situation, López called for firm action by the UN Human Rights Council: “That is why I urge this Council to recognize the will of the Venezuelan people, support the democratic transition, demand justice and back the international coalition against the Cártel de los Soles.”
