GENEVA (AP) — Venezuela’s government has intensified efforts to curtail democratic freedoms with use of threats, surveillance and harassment as President Nicolás Maduro faces a re-election contest next year, U.N.-backed human rights experts reported on Wednesday.
An international fact-finding mission authorized by the Human Rights Council notes that violent repression between 2017 and 2019 eased after the coronavirus pandemic broke out the following year.
A report by the mission three years ago decried “crimes against humanity” in Maduro's Venezuela.
In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, the experts warned that political interference has been on the rise.
The mission's latest report, based on interviews and talks with nearly 300 people, covers a period from January 2020 through last month.
Persons:
—, Nicolás Maduro, ”, Henrique Capriles, Maria Corina Machado, Freddy Superlano —, Patricia Tappata Valdez
Organizations:
GENEVA, U.N, Human
Locations:
Maduro's Venezuela, Venezuela