25 October 2016•Update: 25 October 2016
By Senabri Silvestre
SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the country’s opposition announced Monday the start of a process of dialogue next week.
Lawmakers accused the government of a coup Sunday after a recall process against an embattled Maduro was suspended by the electoral authority, which defended itself by saying its decision was in compliance with court decisions.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged South American governments to put pressure on Maduro to adopt “immediate measures” with a view to addressing the economic and political crises haunting the country.
Shortages of basic medicines and other crucial medical supplies have caused a sharp deterioration in the quality and safety of care in the past two years, but Maduro has made limited efforts to obtain international humanitarian assistance, the watchdog asserted.
“Venezuelan government has seemed more vigorous in denying the existence of a humanitarian crisis than in working to resolve it”, HRW Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco said in a report.
The rights group also condemned reports the Venezuelan government “threatened” to sack health professionals who criticized the shortages.
“Without strong international pressure, in particular from the region, the Maduro administration may well fail to do what is necessary to alleviate this crisis, and the dramatic consequences of the humanitarian crisis that Venezuela is facing may only get worse,” Vivanco said.
A parliamentary declaration Sunday announced the “breakdown of constitutional order”, that put the blame squarely on the Maduro administration.
Lawmakers asked the international community to activate mechanisms that guarantee the rights of citizens and issued a call to action for Venezuelans to defend the Constitution and democracy.
It came after the electoral authority, CNE, decided last week to stop the collection of nearly 4 million signatures that would activate a referendum against Maduro.
Venezuela is struggling in the face of an economic and political bottleneck as citizens complain of a lack of basic supplies and medicine, fueling calls for a recall of Maduro.
The opposition cites mismanagement and corruption for the country’s woes while Maduro has blamed the U.S. and its regional allies for the crisis.
