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UN Human Rights Body Makes an Outlandish Statement on Venezuela

According to a United Nations statement that was widely reported by the media today, it is “unclear” if opposition rioters in Venezuela have killed a single person over the past four months.

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According to a United Nations statement that was widely reported by the media today, it is “unclear” if opposition rioters in Venezuela have killed a single person over the past four months. 

The OHCHR press release said it had “remote” investigators study the situation in Venezuela.

According to the UN Human Rights team’s analysis, security forces are allegedly responsible for at least 46 of those deaths, while pro-Government armed groups, referred to as “armed colectivos” are reportedly responsible for 27 of the deaths. It is unclear who the perpetrators of the remaining deaths may be.

This statement destroys the credibility of the OHCHR’s “remote” investigation. It is such an extreme remark that only one counterexample is required to completely refute it.

The best counterexample to use is the murder of Orlando Figuera. Reuters, like all the international corporate media, is quite biased against the Maduro government and its supporters (who are called “chavsitas” after the late President Hugo Chavez), but it could not deny that opposition protesters murdered Figuera.  

The staff writers at VenezuelAnalysis.com have about a thousand times more justification to claim independence than any UN body.

Here is their tally of the protest related deaths. A summary of their latest figures (as of August 8) are below.

Deaths caused by authorities: 14

Direct victims of opposition political violence: 23

Deaths indirectly linked to opposition barricades*: 8

Accidental deaths: 3 

People killed in lootings**: 14

Deaths attributed to pro-gov’t civilians: 3

Deaths still unaccounted for / disputed: 61

This ridiculous statement by the UN shouldn’t surprise us when we consider the UN’s monstrous track record in both Iraq and Haiti.

The UN is large and diverse body, so it can sometimes push back a bit against the US government but in general it can be relied on to collaborate with major crimes, even if not quite as often and enthusiastically as far right neocons and fanatical “supporters of Israel” would like.  

Joe Emersberger was born in 1966 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada where he currently lives and works. He is an engineer and a member of the Canadian Auto Workers union.