UN Hopes Venezuelan Conflict Resolution To Include Human Rights Guarantees - Commissioner

The United Nations hopes that the violence in Venezuela will end and for the resolution to the conflict to include assurances that human rights will be guaranteed, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Monday at the 40th session of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC)

GENEVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2019) The United Nations hopes that the violence in Venezuela will end and for the resolution to the conflict to include assurances that human rights will be guaranteed, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Monday at the 40th session of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The situation in crisis-torn Venezuela escalated in late January when opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president, disputing President Nicolas Maduro's re-election. Guaido was almost immediately recognized by the United States and its allies. Russia, China and Mexico, among other nations, have voiced their support for Maduro, who has called Guaido "a puppet of the White House" and accused Washington of seeking to colonize Venezuela

"Every day, we deal with many challenges across the planet. The world's eyes have been on Venezuela, especially in the last few days. Just yesterday my Office issued a statement regarding the situation: we hope violence will end, and that respect for human rights will be part of the solution," Bachelet said in an opening statement released on the UNHRC website.

The situation in Venezuela became particularly tense over the weekend amid Washington's attempts to deliver humanitarian aid to the Bolivarian republic. Maduro has repeatedly dismissed allegations about a humanitarian crisis in the country, refusing to accept the US aid, which the president believes Washington might use as a pretext for aggressive actions against Venezuela.

The attempts to deliver US aid to Venezuela were accompanied by violence. According to Luis Almagro, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, at least 335 people were injured in clashes between activists and Venezuelan police on the country's borders with Colombia and Brazil.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on the matter, has said that Washington might use the situation with humanitarian aid to provoke the Venezuelan military, which supports Maduro, into using force, and thereby potentially create a pretext for sending US troops to Venezuela.