Venezuela UN Ambassador rejects UN Watch protests, defends Chavez regime’s bid for seat on UN rights council

In response to UN Watch’s campaign to block the Chavez regime’s bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, the Spanish-language division of Radio Netherlands reports today that Venezuelan ambassador to the UN Jorge Valero has “defended his country’s bid to qualify,” making the following claims:

  • Venezuela offers a “clear example of the perfect fulfillment of human rights.”
  • “Venezuela’s democracy, the participative democracy, is founded in the exercise of all rights.”
  • “The constitution of Venezuela is a constitution that upholds the rule of law, universalizes human rights, and gives them their substance and foundation, its essential purpose.”
  • “Venezuela is in the forefront of the exercise of the human rights, both political and civil, and economical, social and cultural rights.”

UN Watch’s director, noted Radio Netherlands, “accused Chavez of supporting the Libyan regime and showing solidarity with the Syrian regime. ‘We know that Venezuela supported the Libyan regime even when the regime massacred children, women, men,’ he said.”

Ambassador Valero’s response:

  • Venezuela shows solidarity with “all the countries in the world.” In this regard, Chávez presented a peace proposal for Libya “which was rejected by the imperialist powers who, instead of resorting to the path of dialogue, resorted to war.”
  • “Venezuela denounces the invasion being prepared against Syria, similar to when we denounced the criminal and genocidal invasion that occurred against the people of Libya. Venezuela has all the authority to raise the flag of peace.”
  • “We applaud China and Russia which have prevented the new genocidal invasion being prepared for Syria.”

The above quotes were translated from both the written article and the underlying audio transcript, both found here.

UN Watch