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Secretary General Presents Third Report on Venezuela

  July 19, 2017

The full report is available here.

His Excellency
Ambassador, José Luiz Machado E Costa
Permanent Representative Brazil to the Organization of American States
Chairman of the Permanent Council
Washington, D.C.

Your Excellency,

I have the honor to address you for the purpose of presenting my third Report on the continuing crisis in Venezuela. In my first two reports of June 2016 and March 2017, respectively, I described the “alteration of the Constitutional order” and the “democratic order” as outlined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter. It is with a heavy heart and great urgency that I submit this third Report detailing the deliberate and systematic abuses perpetrated by the Government of Venezuela against the citizens of Venezuela during the ongoing protests.

Following the adoption of Permanent Council Resolution CP/RES 1078 of April 3, 2017, which declared that there had been a “violation of the constitutional order” in Venezuela, the already dire situation in the country has continued to deteriorate dramatically. Left with no other choice, on April 1 the people of Venezuela have taken to the streets to exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms and speak out against the corruption and abuses of the Regime of President Nicolás Maduro. The Government responds with violence and terror.

This violence is not taking place at random. These actions taken by the Government are deliberate. This is a thought out, methodical strategy being executed; a policy where one or two protestors are killed each day. This is the strategic and systematic targeting of an unarmed, civilian population. The boldness of the Regime is growing as is the ferocity of the tactics used. With every passing day, the numbers of citizens who have been injured or have been arrested are growing. The death toll continues to rise.

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The full report is available here.

Reference: E-056/17