The report presented by Michelle Bachelet, in the 41^st session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations misrepresents Venezuelan reality.

The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro has rejected it in his letter dated July 11, 2019, directed to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and which, under instructions of the Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, I delivered to her Office and which was received by Kate Gilmore, the Vice High Commissioner.

This report is plagued with lies and manipulations, and with inexact and false data.

It does not express the truth of Venezuela. It is a repetition of the illegal, unilateral and arbitrary reports elaborated by the previous High Commissioner, who—from the beginning of his mandate—was at the service of obscure interests against Venezuela. Its content follows the dictates of the Government of the United States.

Less than a month ago Michelle Bachelet was in our country attending the good will invitation that President Maduro made to her in November 2018.

We had wanted to establish a new kind of relations with the High Commissioner and her Office, and turn the page with respect to the complicated relation that we had with the former High Commissioner, a declared enemy of the Bolivarian Revolution.

The invitation of President Nicolás Maduro was for Michelle Bachelet to get to know in the terrain the widespread and historic efforts that we are undertaking to guarantee and promote the human rights of the Venezuelan people.

The Bolivarian Government had hoped that this high-ranking official of the UNO would see for herself the negative repercussions that the illegal unilateral coercive measures, imposed by the United States government, have brought on the people of Venezuela.

Measures that prevent the enjoyment of human rights of the Venezuelan people and have made it more and more difficult for us to receive, import or purchase the basic essentials for production and the nourishment and health of our people.

Our government had hoped that her visit would be a first step in the rapprochement with Michelle Bachelet and her Office, in the framework of a fluid relation of cooperation.

President Nicolás Maduro had indicated to Michelle Bachelet his willingness to take into account constructive recommendations, so that in Venezuela a more in depth system of human rights could prevail, to protect our people.

The humanist government of Nicolás Maduro

The humanist government presided over by Nicolás Maduro has provided reliable evidence of its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights.

In March of this year, we received in Venezuela a technical team of the Office of the High Commissioner, based on initial agreements.

It is disappointing that the report of Michelle Bachelet, far from providing an objective and balanced view of the situation of human rights in our country, became a demonstration that we had not been heard... She had not seen the reality of Venezuela.

Her report presents a Dantesque panorama of the political, economic and social situation of Venezuela. It distorts reality. It employs disrespectful language against the Bolivarian Government and, in general, against the State institutions.

We do not hide the challenges that our people are facing. But the root and structural causes that give rise to them should not be minimised.

The High Commissioner met with President Nicolás Maduro, with the highest authorities of the public powers and the Ministers and high-ranking officials of 17 Ministries. She received abundant information on the humanist policies that the Venezuelan State develops. She had the full support of our government and enjoyed ample facilities in order that she could fulfil her mandate with complete freedom.

Before her visit, there were agreements made between the Government and her Office. We fulfilled them. Michelle Bachelet did not.

No State is perfect. All are perfectible. Our Government is always disposed to undertake, in a cooperative and solidary framework, and with full respect for our sovereignty, all that history demands of us to build a more human world, respectful of human rights and democratic freedoms.

There is no correspondence between what Michelle Bachelet could see and hear during her visit and what is reflected in her report.

It is remarkable that there is no reference to the report on our country made by the Independent Expert of the United Nations for an International Democratic and Equitable Order, Dr. Alfred De Zayas.

There the reality of Venezuela is described. The failures that exist today are mentioned, but there is also a reference to the causes that give rise to them. The economic war is mentioned, the unilateral coercive measures and the attack on our currency. Michelle Bachelet decontextualizes these measures and plays down their importance.

These measures have been condemned by Idriss Jazairy, Special Rapporteur on the negative repercussions of unilateral coercive measures, with the UNO, imposed on Venezuela since 2014. They are expressed in many ways, for example, in the economic, financial and commercial blockade and the attack on our currency that induces hyperinflation. These have disastrous consequences for our society. They cause death and suffering for the Venezuelan people. They flagrantly violate human rights.

With these criminal measures, payments for the acquisition of vaccinations, medicines and health inputs are blocked, generating serious difficulties to guarantee the access to medical attention of millions of persons.

United States banks have retained, frozen or confiscated funds of the Venezuelan people with more than seven billion dollars destined for the purchase of food and medicines.

The Government of the United States has stripped from Venezuela over 30 billion dollars in petroleum assets.

The Government of Donald Trump has unduly appropriated our oil company Citgo, in the United States, with which we financed treatments of bone marrow transplants for boys and girls.

The coercive measures are the principal cause of the problems that our people face and not–as the report of Michelle Bachelet states–the supposed bad administration of our Government.

We regret that her report was unable to transcend the conditions imposed by the bureaucracy installed in her Office that, as it is public and notorious–and she knows this– has a hostile agenda towards the Bolivarian Government.

We had hoped that Michelle Bachelet would not follow the disastrous route taken by her predecessor who, from the moment when he took office as High Commissioner, undertook an infamous campaign against the Bolivarian Government.

The report that the High Commissioner presented to the Human Rights Council follows that same path. It is not by chance–and Bachelet has said this publicly– that the report was written before her visit to Venezuela. Nevertheless, she accepted it with few further amendments. The Venezuelan State presented 70 observations to her report that were simply ignored.

Human Rights: a State policy

Since the historic February 2, 1999, when Hugo Chávez Frias assumed–for the first time–the leadership of the State, Venezuela set out on the path to build a new free and sovereign Fatherland, having social justice, freedom and equality as its North. And these ideals found their expression in the Bolivarian Constitution approved in a referendum.

The new constitutional text makes a reference, for the first time in our history, to “Human Rights”.

In the Bolivarian Constitution, a very advanced normative system is established, founded on the most modern doctrines on Human Rights.

The Venezuelan State is a State that guarantees these rights. Our government is dedicated to respecting them and making them possible.

Democracy with equality and social justice

The problems that generate poverty and inequality are so calamitous that, if they are not addressed with decision and firmness, can lead to the failure of the democratic system. The struggle against these injustices is the struggle for democracy. Nothing conspires more against democracy than poverty and inequality.

Although Michelle Bachelet faintly recognizes in her report that the recent economic sanctions are further exacerbating the humanitarian situation, given that most of the income in foreign currency come from oil exports, many of which are linked to the US market, she nevertheless decontextualizes and minimises these measures.

It is a fallacy to point out that the social programs promoted by the Bolivarian Government are directed to benefit–solely and exclusively–the supporters of the government. The truth is that these programs are enjoyed by all Venezuelans.

Until July 13^th of the present year, the Bolivarian Government has provided–for free–2’700,000 housing units. This program has benefited approximately 10’800,000 compatriots. Some 36% of the Venezuelan population that, before the Bolivarian Revolution, lived in inhuman conditions and in impoverished areas, today enjoy a home that is dignified and decent.

In the report, there is a reference to a program of our Government for satisfying the food requirements of the population, through the Local Councils of Supply and Production (CLAP). But there it maintains–falsely–that this program is directed only to supporters of the Bolivarian Revolution and that it discriminates against opposition members.

How can there be discrimination when 6 million households benefit?

Michelle Bachelet says in her report that over four million people have abandoned the country. The figure that she mentions has as its source Latin American governments that are under tutelage of the US Empire. These inflate the figures in an immoral manner in order to request financial resources coming from foreign governments and international bodies.

At present, more than 6 million Venezuelan families benefit from CLAP. On average, according to the National Statistics Institute, each family is made up of four persons. In consequence, 24 million people receive the benefit of this program. And if the Venezuelan population today is 26 million men and women, given that supposedly 4 million persons have abandoned the country, according to the report of Michelle Bachelet, does that mean, then, that 92.31% of the population is Chavist? This is fantasy. To make such an affirmation is ridiculous. If this were true, almost the whole Venezuelan population would be “Chavist”.

Bolivarian Revolution: an inclusive social policy

There are 18.809.877 Venezuelans who are registered in the Plataforma Patria, through which they receive enormous aid from the Venezuelan State. 100% of older adults receive a pension through this system.

How can there be political discrimination in Venezuela if 6 million families receive the “houses of the Fatherland” bonus and 700 thousand pregnant women receive the allowance for a humanized childbirth and breastfeeding?

These figures demonstrate the inclusive character of the system of Venezuelan social protection.

Since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution, in 1999, the right to food is a human right.

Article 305 of the Constitutional establishes “. . . the adoption of policies and measures that Guarantee Food Security for the Population is a duty of the State...”. And to fulfil this constitutional mandate, the Bolivarian Government has developed several programs and an extensive legal framework.

In the Constituent Law Plan of the Fatherland 2019-2025, the need to continue constructing the Socialism of the XXI century is established. And food is conceived as a right and not a merchandise.

The Plan of the Fatherland is compatible with the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Our Government has proposed to comply firmly with the 17 objectives established there.

For the Bolivarian Revolution, health is also a fundamental human right. In just 20 years, the access to integral health care grew, with a 397% increase in the Network of Public National Health System establishments, which attend–for free and without discrimination–all those who need it, including our brothers and sisters from Latin American countries. This does not appear in the Michelle Bachelet’s report.

The Bolivarian Revolution has increased by over 50% the training of health professionals, mainly medical doctors and nurses. Venezuela presents a continued improvement in health indicators, with participation of organized communities.

Human rights and fundamental freedoms

It is false to affirm that during the Bolivarian Revolution we have restricted democratic space, weakened public institutions and diminished the independence of the judicial power. Quite the contrary, democratic space and the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms is broader than ever before in our history. One example: from 1999 to 2018, we have had 25 national elections with the participation of all political factions.

President Nicolás Maduro and the leaders of our revolution have recognised the triumph of the opposition in the two occasions in which this has occurred. The opposition, however, has never recognized the 23 electoral victories overwhelmingly obtained by the Bolivarian forces.

In her report, Michelle Bachelet points out that during the Bolivarian Revolution, demonstrations against the Government have increased in number and intensity.

Certainly, hundreds of demonstrations have taken place in Venezuela during the Bolivarian Revolution. But our government has never suppressed peaceful manifestations or opposition members that raise the banners of their political ideals. On the contrary, they have had ample prerogatives for presenting their ideas, as long as this takes place in a pacific, democratic and constitutional framework.

The right to demonstrate peacefully in Venezuela is a legitimate democratic right. A very different thing is that violent and terrorist sectors of the opposition take advantage of these demonstrations to undertake actions that cause the death of public officials and common citizens and that have even reached the extreme of burning people alive due to their skin colour, or for being partisans of the Bolivarian Revolution. It is reprehensible that this does not appear in Michelle Bachelet’s report, in spite of the fact that organizations that defend human rights in Venezuela showed her abundant proofs of these actions.

Pacific demonstrations are protected by the Forces of public order. But these forces cannot remain indifferent when people are assassinated or public and private goods are destroyed. Guaranteeing peace and public security are fundamental obligations of a democratic State, such as ours.

The High Commissioner says in her report that: “In recent years the Government has attempted to impose a communication hegemony imposing their own vision of the facts and creating an environment that restricts the independent media”. Totally false.

How does one explain that, after twenty years of the Bolivarian Revolution, in a framework of full fundamental freedoms, the majority of the print media and radio and television channels have an editorial policy openly contrary to our government?

The right to freedom of expression and information are fully guaranteed by the Venezuelan State. There are no limitations to its free exercise, except those established in the Constitution and the Law. No media outlet has suffered censorship. Nor has any journalist been persecuted or detained in the fulfilment of their profession. Those who work in the media exercise their labours with absolute freedom. The internet and social networks are utilized freely and without any restriction.

In her report, Michelle Bachelet speaks of persons detained supposedly for expressing political opinions. The information, quoted as facts, was contributed by opposition parties and a few NGOs whose ethical reliability is questionable, since they are financed by the United States Government.

The report states that the program “Con el Mazo Dando” harasses the opposition. But this program simply allows for exercising the right of opinion. According to Michelle Bachelet, the opposition has the right to criticise the government, yet the supporters of this government are denied the right to criticise the opposition. This clearly demonstrates the biased nature of her report.

In Venezuela, in conformity with the Bolivarian Constitution of 1999, the native peoples have gained visibility. They have acquired the role of citizens with equal rights and duties. Indigenous people of all ethnic groups are guaranteed their collective and ancestral rights, and rights over their territories and identity.

The High Commissioner in her report demonizes all the security bodies of the State. She accuses them of incurring in massive violations of human rights. These security bodies, based on our Constitution, and given the firm determination of the Bolivarian Government, have the obligation to watch over the fulfilment of these rights.

To respect human rights is a State policy. There have been some isolated occurrences in which officials have failed in their constitutional obligation and infringed the orders of the authorities. In these cases, the Public Ministry has acted immediately. Those who have incurred in these crimes have been subjected to the rule of law.

The Bolivarian Government hopes that, after a profound reflection, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will respond with the truth. This is indispensable to move towards a constructive and sincere understanding, where the primary and real concern is the promotion and protection of human rights in Venezuela.

The imperial threat to the fatherland of Bolivar

The situation in which our country now lives, under siege by de facto imperial powers, obliges us to look to the past. In order not to forget the grave consequences of fascism, now being revived, that was imposed by the atrocious dictatorships sanctified by Washington, and that subjected our peoples – in the most cruel way – in the XX century.

It happened under the Government of Salvador Allende when the Chilean people suffered a criminal aggression on the part of the US Empire. The proposal was to make its economy screech, bringing it to chaos and destabilisation. A fascist Coup d’état was imposed, organised by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States. They thus wrecked the beautiful democratic initiative and the laudable popular dream.

Seventeen years of dictatorship, of suffering, of torture. Thousands of disappeared, thousands of families that suffered that criminal intervention that was demonstrated in documents declassified from the Departments of State and of Defence of the United States.

Today there are similar occurrences. New faces, but the same ends: to frustrate the dreams of the peoples of Our America. But they will not succeed. Venezuela nobly and heroically raises the flags of independence and self-determination. Social justice, peace and freedom are our North.

Last August 4^th, in Venezuela, there was an assassination attempt against President Nicolás Maduro, the High Political-Military Command, and the representatives of the Public Powers who were attending a Civic-Military act in the city of Caracas. A terrorist action planned in Miami and Colombia.

Cruel facts that reveal the truth of what is really happening in Venezuela, where fascist forces of the political opposition, at the service of the US Empire, have spared no effort, since the beginning of the Bolivarian Revolution led by Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, to attempt to take power through violence, at the cost of the lives of many innocent people.

In spite of the criminal blocking of our economy and the inflationary pressures induced from outside, the Bolivarian Government continues combatting this economic, commercial and financial war. The social investment in Venezuela was increased to 74.1% and 72.5% of the national budget is destined to that.

We are aware that overcoming the great challenges facing the Fatherland of Bolivar requires efforts from all sectors of the country that love peace. Hence, President Nicolás Maduro maintains his call for dialogue with the democratic factions of the Venezuelan opposition.

With the aid of the Norwegian Government we have established a negotiating table with this sector. It is an integral agenda. By working with good will, and without US intervention, we will reach agreements for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.

President Nicolás Maduro has said that the time has come to seek agreement. To listen to each other, to reflect together. To move forward on a path of peace and understanding.

We are aware of the imperial pressures and the enormous challenges that the High Commisioner Michelle Bachelet faces for the exercise of her responsibilities.

Resolution 48/141 of the UN General Assembly that created her high post, disposed among her functions, that she should establish a constructive dialogue with governments in the exercise of her mandate, in order to ensure respect for human rights, broadening international cooperation for their promotion and protection.

In this context, President Nicolás Maduro has reaffirmed the unbreakable will of his government to promote and protect human rights, with a strict attachment to the universal principles of respect for the sovereignty and of the non-interference in the internal affairs of states, consecrated in the United Nations Charter.

We hope that when the High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet draws up her next report, that she will present to the Human Rights Council in September of this year, she will distance herself from the dictates of the Government of Donald Trump, and of the anti-Bolivarian bureaucracy installed in her Office.

If Michelle Bachelet is interested in cultivating a relation of cooperation with the Venezuelan State, then she should rectify, as President Nicolás Maduro has requested in his missive.

The Bolivarian Government is willing to maintain a transparent and constructive relation with all of the institutions that make up the Universal System of Human Rights of the United Nations.

16/07/2019

(Translated for ALAI by Jordan Bishop)

- Jorge Valero is an ambassador-Permanent Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UN and other International Organizations based in Geneva, Switzerland.