Meeting in the city of Cartagena de las Indias, Colombia on August 28th and 29th 2015, the Committee of the Socialist International for Latin America and the Caribbean, reported to its member parties on the worsening economic, social and political situation in Venezuela.
Prominence was given to crucial matters such as the violations of human rights, the criminalisation of freedom of expression, the persecution of the media, among others El Nacional, Tal Cual and La Patilla; the exile and imprisonment without due process of those opposed to the government, and, most recently, the political disqualification of leading members of the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD).
The following statement reflects the opinions of this organisation at a time when the country is preparing to hold its parliamentary elections on December 6th, with the aim of electing the deputies to the National Assembly, and:
REITERATES the request ofthe International expressed at its Council meeting in New York, last July, that the National Electoral Council of Venezuela and the official Venezuelan agencies issue a formal invitation for the organisation to be present in a capacity as International Observers at the electoral process this coming December 6th, in which the members of the new national assembly will be elected. This invitation will permit formal monitoring and evaluation of the aforementioned elections and will help guarantee the transparency and legitimacy of the process.
EXPRESSES the Committee’s concern regarding the events developing on the Colombia-‐Venezuela border, which put at risk the historic fraternal relations between the two nations, now compromised by the declaration of a STATE OF EMERGENCY by the government of Venezuela without any obvious or well-‐founded reasons for such a measure, leading to unrest, humiliation and a sense of vulnerability in thousands of Venezuelan and Colombian families, violating their human rights and exposing them to destitution.
We therefore call for a humanitarian approach to the crisis, inkeeping with the laws governing the existing migratory processes and agreements between the two countries. Equally, we express our dismay at the absence of agreements that would lead to the immediate resolution of this social calamity, created by mere political interests. The Committee calls for a rapid normalisation of the situation on the border by means of diplomacy, dialogue and cooperation.
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