President of Chile said that Maduro's government has become “authoritarian”; elections in the country have no opposition candidates
The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, once again spoke about the violation of human rights by the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. On Friday (March 8, 2024), the Chilean leader stated that he has been “very critical and denounced in international forums” the violations “of a regime that, without a doubt, has become authoritarian”.
“We, as a government, seek to collaborate so that a democratic direction is restored and so that the elections, which must be held this year, comply with all guarantees for all political sectors in Venezuela”, he said, referring to the Venezuelan presidential election scheduled for July 28.
Boric's statements were given during conversation with journalists. The event was held in the presence of the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez. The two met on Friday (8th March), in Santiago, for a bilateral meeting.
At the time, Boric also stated that he publicly established “a clear condemnation of human rights violations and restrictions on freedom of expression that”, From the Chilean government's point of view, “have existed in recent years in Venezuela”.
He also said that, even though there are different opinions across political spectrums, “the position of the State of Chile is consistent, both with what is happening in Venezuela, with what is happening in Ukraine, as well as with what is happening today in Gaza.”
“I have no problem continuing to reaffirm this, even if it sometimes causes discomfort,” declared the Chilean president.
Boric was asked by a journalist about the murder of Ronald Ojeda, a former Venezuelan soldier and critic of Maduro's government who had been arrested and accused of treason.
Ojeda fled to Santiago, where he was kidnapped from the apartment where he lived on February 21 and found dead on March 1.
The Chilean Public Ministry stated that the Los Gallegos group, a branch of the Tren de Aragua criminal faction, the largest in Venezuela, was responsible for the murder, according to information from the El País. During the statement, Boric classified the case as “very serious”.
This was not the first time that the Chilean leader cited possible human rights violations in Venezuela. On May 30, 2023, Boric said that the case was not a “narrative” contrary to what the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) had said the day before, May 29th.
The position of the president of Chile contrasts with that adopted by Lula.
The most recent was on Wednesday (6th March). At the time, Lula said that the Venezuelan opposition should not be “crying”. Although he did not mention names, it was a reference to the fact that candidate María Corina Machado, an opponent of President Nicolás Maduro, was prevented by the country's Supreme Court from contesting elections in the country.
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