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Guaidó’s wife condemns Maduro victimisation

Published:Monday | May 13, 2019 | 12:30 AMRomario Scott/Gleaner Writer
Fabiana Rosales (left) is seen with unidentified officials of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Fabiana Rosales (left) is seen with unidentified officials of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The Nicolás Maduro regime continues to persecute the family of Juan Guaidó, the opposition congressman in Venezuela who has been backed by dozens of Western nations and their allies as interim president, Guaidó’s wife reported to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which hosted hearings in Jamaica from May 8-10.

Guaidó, who has ridden a wave of popularity behind the shield of United States (US) President Donald Trump and other world leaders, has sought to foment an uprising against Maduro, whose presidency has been ruled illegitimate by the majority of member nations of the Organization of American States, including Jamaica. But Russia, an ally of Venezuela, has bristled at the endorsement of Guaidó as meddlesome.

Fabiana Rosales told the IACHR that Maduro operatives have relentlessly sought to intimidate Guaidó, threatening the security of not only her husband but his wider family and members of the diplomatic corps.

Rosales, who appeared before the 172nd session of the IACHR at the Regional Headquarters of The University of the West Indies in St Andrew, charged that Maduro has targeted just about everyone who has opposed him.

She also described how the Maduro-led regime allegedly conducted kidnappings as he scrambles to hold on to power in Venezuela.

“We denounce today before the IACHR in Jamaica the persecution against Juan, against my two-year-old daughter, Miranda, and myself, as well as members of our family, by the regime,” Rosales said.

She said that she had reported the kidnappings of several key supporters of Guaidó to the commission.

CLEAR ATTACK

Rosales further indicated that Guaidó denounced the “persecution and citation” by Bolivarian National Intelligence Agency of Public Services Coordinator Rafael Del Dosario, an act they consider a “clear attack by the regime on our immediate surroundings and on the work team of the president, Juan Guaidó”.

“Our admirable Asamblea Nacional has all our support and backing to the constant blows perpetuated by the regime,” she added.

Guaidó is the president of the Asamblea Nacional in the South American country.

“We will not leave alone our deputies, who have been able to bring this struggle for freedom and democracy with dignity,” she promised.

Rosales vowed to continue to alert “the world” to the atrocities that she alleged were taking place in Venezuela but expressed a desire for her countrymen to live in peace.

“Let’s move forward with strength, with faith. Let’s go well, let’s go with God, and go with everything,” Rosales also said.

Jamaica was among four Caribbean countries that voted in favour of a US-backed resolution to suspend Venezuela’s OAS membership in June 2018.

According to votes, the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, and Jamaica supported the resolution, while Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines voted against the measure.

Belize, Grenada, Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago were among the 11 member states that abstained.

Kingston has also forcibly reclaimed Venezuela’s 49 per cent stake in the Petrojam oil refinery after more than a year of icy talks failed to cause Caracas to budge on either capitalising the overhaul of the oil refinery’s ageing plant or negotiating a mutually acceptable sale price. The Jamaican Government tabled legislation earlier this year facilitating the buyout.

But even if the Maduro administration had been minded to broker a deal, Washington’s tough sanctions against cross-border transactions with the Venezuelan government had effectively closed the door on an amicable resolution.

Venezuela has been rocked by worsening economic and social crises as the Trump administration tightens the noose on its sources of revenue, triggering a cash crunch, the shuttering and nationalisation of foreign businesses, and a rise in inflation by a trillion per cent.

romario.scott@gleanerjm.com