Comunicate

The case of Rocío San Miguel and General Hernández Da Costa, among other political prisoners in Venezuela

Parliament strongly condemns the Maduro regime in Venezuela for imprisoning hundreds of political prisoners held in conditions that fail to meet the United Nations standard minimum rules for their treatment.

Demanding their immediate and unconditional release, Parliament exhorts the regime to cease repressing and attacking civil society and the opposition. MEPs want the EU to increase sanctions, including on high-level officials, members of the security forces, members of the regime's Supreme Tribunal of Justice and Maduro himself.

They urge the International Criminal Court to include ongoing human rights violations and arbitrary detentions in its investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Maduro regime. Parliament calls on the international community to support a return to democracy in Venezuela, particularly in view of the elections, in which the leader of the opposition to the regime, María Corina Machado, shall fully participate.

MEPs also urge the Chilean authorities to investigate fully the murder of Ronald Ojeda, a former political prisoner who escaped the Maduro regime, and urge the Venezuelan authorities to re-establish the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and guarantee their access to prisons.

The resolution was adopted by 497 votes in favour, 22 against and 27 abstentions. For further details, the full version will be available here. (14.03.2024)

• María Corina Machado must be eligible to run for the elections
• Maduro regime must implement the Barbados agreement to hold fair and free elections
• No recognition of election results if María Corina Machado is not allowed to run
• Call for further sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime

MEPs strongly condemn the attacks against the opposition in Venezuela and the interference of Nicolás Maduro's regime in the electoral process.

The decision by the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice to disqualify María Corina Machado has no legal grounds and she remains eligible to run for the elections, states Parliament in its resolution adopted on Thursday by 446 votes in favour, 21 against and 32 abstentions. The text also strongly condemns the attempts to prevent other opposition politicians, such as Henrique Capriles, from holding public office.

Respecting the Barbados agreement could be a turning point towards democracy

MEPs condemn the attacks, alleged forced disappearances, arrests and arrest warrants against the opposition, civil society, human rights defenders and journalists, and the interference of Nicolás Maduro's regime in the electoral process.

The Maduro regime is in clear breach of the agreement, signed last year in Barbados by representatives of the Venezuelan government and the opposition, to hold free and fair presidential elections in 2024. Persecutions must stop immediately, say MEPs. If all points of the Barbados agreement were respected, Venezuela's 2024 elections could mark a turning point from a corrupt autocracy to a return to democracy, they stress.

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The political disqualifications in Venezuela

Parliament strongly condemns the Venezuelan regime's arbitrary and unconstitutional decision to prevent prominent political opposition figures like María Corina Machado, Leopoldo López, Henrique Capriles and Freddy Superlano from running in the 2024 elections, a ballot which could have constituted a turning point towards a return to democracy in the country. MEPs deplore the outright interference of authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro's government in the electoral process and the current serious restrictions on Venezuelans' right to choose their political representatives. They urge the country's authorities to provide the conditions to ensure a fair, free, inclusive and transparent vote.

With Venezuela ignoring the recommendations of the EU election observation mission while the country is experiencing continued institutional, economic and political instability, MEPs stress that the upcoming summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is an opportunity to voice support for and uphold the principles of the rule of law, democracy and human rights in Latin America.

Parliament also fully supports the International Criminal Court investigations into the alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Venezuelan regime and urges the authorities to release all political prisoners.

The text was adopted by 495 votes in favour, 25 against and 43 abstentions. For more details, full text will be available here. (13.07.2023)

Lead MEPs condemn Sunday's violent storming of the Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court of Justice in Brasilia by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

"We strongly condemn yesterday's violent and illegal storming of the Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court of Justice in Brasilia by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. This was an inacceptable and heinous attack on the heart of Brazilian democracy, whose perpetrators and instigators must be punished with the full force of the law.

We express our full solidarity with the Brazilian Congress, the government of President Lula da Silva and all other democratic institutions in Brazil. It is one of the fundamental principles of democracies that results of fair and transparent elections must be respected, and any attempt to overturn them through violent acts must be firmly rejected. We are concerned about the increasing acts of political violence by extremist supporters of Brazil's former president, which directly promote speeches and actions that move to confrontation, hatred, radicalization and even crime. We call on all parties to do everything possible to overcome this dangerous situation and urgently adopt measures to prevent these acts from happening again while bringing those responsible to justice."

On 20 June, the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Mercosur and the Bureau of the Mercosur Parliament (PARLASUR) held an interparliamentary meeting at which we exchanged views on various aspects of the bilateral partnership, particularly the Mercosur-European Union Association Agreement.

Firstly, we wish to stress the meeting's importance and timeliness, as a useful tool for deepening political, economic, social and human relations between the peoples of both regions, and we commit to do all in our power to maintain regular contact and to strive to meet towards common objectives.

We reiterate the value of intra-regional and inter-regional integration agreements, with the overall objective of achieving progress and sustainable development, as a driving force for breathing new life into and strengthening political dialogue and the post-pandemic recovery, as well as boosting job creation and business and investment opportunities.

We thus agree that the relationship between our regions needs to be formalised at the highest level and that the broad spectrum of our relations needs to be regulated in all areas. We therefore consider it essential that an ambitious, fair and balanced association agreement between the European Union and Mercosur is approved as soon as possible. We thus urge the relevant authorities to submit without delay a final text of the Association Agreement concluded in June 2019 to our respective regions' decision-making bodies for discussion and approval.

We further wish to underline our willingness to step up cooperation to address climate change and biodiversity loss as a top priority for both regions, as well as the need to foster a real transformation in our societies and economies to make them more just, sustainable and resilient, in accordance with the provisions of the UN 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change, among others.

Lastly, we reaffirm our commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, and demand that the Russian Federation immediately cease the use of force against Ukraine, withdraw all its military forces from Ukraine's territory and ensure respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. We also show our solidarity with the people who have suffered from the effects of the war in Ukraine and our appreciation to all individuals and organisations who have provided assistance to Ukrainian citizens who have fallen victim to this war. We undertake to work together to alleviate, inasmuch is possible, the consequences for our societies of this conflict, such as the energy, supply and food crisis.

Parliamentarian of Mercosur Tomas Bittar

MEP Jordi Cañas