The honorary president of the Service for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ) Argentina, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, 1980 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, requesting that the Human Rights Council send a commission to the United States to verify the conditions of detention and treatment of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, who were kidnapped on Saturday, January 3, after the United States carried out a military attack against Venezuela.
In his statement, Pérez Esquivel affirmed: “This letter is to request that the UN Human Rights Council establish a Commission to travel to the US to verify the conditions of detention and treatment of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, kidnapped by commando groups that bombed and murdered one hundred presidential guards, violating the sovereignty of that country on the orders of the President of the US, Donald Trump.”
The Nobel Laureate emphasized that “for humanitarian and legal reasons, it is urgent to send a Human Rights Commission to guarantee the physical and psychological well-being of President Maduro and his wife, who are being held captive in Venezuela.”
At the end of his letter, Pérez Esquivel sent Guterres “a fraternal greeting of Peace and Goodness that the world so desperately needs, beset by wars, armed conflicts, environmental disasters, and the hunger suffered by a large part of humanity,” and concluded: “Thank you in advance, and much strength and hope in building the Peace that our people so desperately need.”
The letter comes amid the popular mobilizations that have intensified throughout the country following the US military attack against Venezuela, reaffirming that the defense of President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores is also the defense of national sovereignty and the popular will expressed democratically at the ballot box.
These acts of solidarity are not limited to Venezuela: cities in Latin America, Europe, and Asia have been the scene of massive protests denouncing the flagrant violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and human rights by the Donald Trump administration. The protesters are demanding the immediate return of the Bolivarian leader and his wife, as well as a strong response from the international community to what they describe as an illegal aggression orchestrated from Washington.
The mobilizations have exposed the true interests behind the military attack: the appropriation of Venezuelan oil. Social organizations and popular movements have condemned the actions of the US as a “very serious affront” to international law, contrary to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the inalienable right of peoples to self-determination.
IMAGE CREDIT: Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, 1980 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Photo: EFE
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
