#SOSVenezuela: Our Denouncement of the Maduro Regime at The UN Human Rights Council
I still remember how my family used to eagerly await the yearly visits of my uncles from Caracas, Venezuela. Every December, my uncles would travel to my home in Colombia bringing gifts and turning their visit into a family-wide celebration. To me, they represented prosperity and hope and that it what I associated Venezuela with. Today, such gatherings are but distant memories, as Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship forced my uncles to flee their country, leaving behind a collapsing country where emigration has become the sole option for those seeking a dignified life.
Venezuela has endured systematic human rights violations. I live in Barranquilla, Colombia and I have witnessed firsthand the suffering this crisis has brought to its people. I see desperate Venezuelan mothers risking their lives and those of their children by selling sweets in traffic in Barranquilla, merely to survive. This has become the norm but in reality it is nothing short of a tragedy. The world has watched it unfold, yet shockingly, it has not been enough to halt the suffering.
I took this photo in Bogotá, Colombia, where I bought some keychains made from bolívares, Venezuela's currency. Its value has dropped so drastically that migrants now craft origami figures with the bills just to survive.
At the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, I exposed the harsh reality that Venezuela faces today. Maduro continues to claim that his country is thriving, but everyone, even his supporters, knows the truth. Venezuela is dying, and the regime is fully aware. Those who praise it do so because they benefit from the corrupt crumbs that fall from the government’s table. They are paid to uphold the lie of non-existent progress, while millions of Venezuelans grapple with poverty and hunger.
During the recent session of the UN Human Rights Council, we delivered a clear message: the July 28th election that nominated Maduro as President of Venezuela was a fraud. Edmundo González won, but Maduro's regime, determined to cling to power at any cost, declared itself the victor. Venezuela cannot continue on this path, and we must not allow the world to forget.
This article is an urgent call to action. We must not lose momentum or allow the suffering of the Venezuelan people to be forgotten. The international community must act:
Demand the regime release the electoral records for international evaluation.
Unequivocally condemn the human rights violations committed by the government and military forces.
Resume the investigation against Maduro at the International Criminal Court, despite the many attempts to derail it.
Venezuela cannot endure another six years of tyranny. The censorship, intimidation, starvation, and despair cannot go unpunished. The world has a duty to speak out and act decisively. It is time to intensify pressure on Maduro and his allies, and social media can be our most powerful tool to achieve this. Let’s share this message, give a voice to the silenced, and use our collective voice to bring hope to a people who have suffered far too much.
Venezuela needs the world. And the world cannot turn its back.
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