It is time to enforce the Democratic Charter in Venezuela
18 August 2017
The Socialist International strongly condemns the decision of the Venezuelan regime to usurp the powers of the National Assembly, the seat of the legislative power in that country.
This unconstitutional and illegitimate decision does not only ignore the will of the Venezuelan people expressed in the ballot box in elections that took place at the end of 2015, in which its members were elected, but places, in an unequivocal and irrefutable way, the people of Venezuela under an authoritarian and dictatorial government.
Under these circumstances, the international community, faced with the risk of having to witness an untenable internal situation of continuing violations of the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Venezuelan people, must act decisively and with a sense of urgency, with reason prevailing over the rule of force, in order to prevent the Venezuelan authorities from committing the crime of depriving their people of their rights and freedoms and to mobilise themselves to implement the Right to Protection in the case of the Venezuelan people.
Within this context, we also call on the Organisation of American States, OAS, to take immediate action in favour of the enforcement of the Democratic Charter in Venezuela.
The defence of democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in other regions and continents, must be a shared priority in politics and by all the actors involved.