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In his first live appearance in Venezuela since mid April, Hugo Chávez said Monday that his government should withdraw from the Organization of American States’ (OAS) human rights body, which he claimed was conspiring with the U.S. to undermine his power.
Chávez spent four days in Venezuela after two weeks of cancer treatments in Cuba, ostensibly to sign an overhaul to the nation’s labor law. But the president also took the opportunity to condemn the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The highly-respected IACHR has been an active critic of Chávez’s government throughout his 13 years in office. In 2010, the organization produced a lengthy report outlining Venezuela’s failings in “political rights and participation in public life,” “independence and separation of public powers,” and “freedom of thought and expression,” among other things.
“It’s been some time since we should have retired from that commission,” Chávez said during Monday’s speech. He also called the IACHR “a tool the United States uses against us” and a “permanent conspiracy” to remove him from power.
Henrique Capriles, Chávez’s opponent in the upcoming elections, said withdrawing from the council would be irresponsible.
Activists also expressed criticism.
“With this decision, no one wins. The government loses a lot obviously. A decision like this reaffirms that there is a situation of indifference and complete inattention to human rights,” said Liliana Ortega, director of Venezuelan human rights organization Cofavic.
Christopher Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, noted that Venezuela is not the first OAS member state to have had quarrels with the IACHR.
“[But] the idea that a government would want to pull out of the commission should be condemned,” he said. “[The IACHR has] been at the forefront of all we assume to be advances in human rights in the hemisphere.”
Chávez’s call for withdrawal has sparked speculation in Venezuela that Chávez, his military and the Cuban regime are preparing for military intervention around the elections, or in the event the president’s health further deteriorates. If the military takes drastic action – either by enforcing military control following Chávez’s death or postponing the election date – Venezuela will avoid having to address the condemnation that will come with its membership in the IACHR.
Yesterday, Venezuelan Vice President Jaua echoed the president’s comments, noting that the IACHR is “useless” for Venezuela.
On December 11, even before her case came to court, President Hugo Chávez gave the order, in a nationwide networked broadcast, that Afiuni be sentenced to 30 years, adding that, if the death penalty existed in Venezuela, Afiuni would deserve it.