UNHRC condemns Maduro regime, fact finding mission called for Venezuela, but wider context needed

“Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.” - Elie Wiesel

UN Human Rights Council in Geneva condemns Maduro regime.

CubaBrief, September 28, 2019

Good news today from Geneva. The UN Human Rights Council by a vote of 19 in favor, 7 against, and 21 abstentions earlier this afternoon passed a resolution that strongly condemned human rights violations in Venezuela and called for the creation of a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations and crimes against humanity that are taking place in Venezuela. Non-governmental organizations had spent years advocating for these measures.

Amnesty calls for looking at Venezuela in a wider context. 

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International welcomed the passage of the resolution. Ms. Guevara-Rosas also urged that "the UN Fact-Finding mission will need to address the wider context in which the policy of state repression takes place."

However both the UN Human Rights Council resolution and the Amnesty International statement fail to mention the negative role Cuban authorities are playing in Venezuela, and this must be taken into account when addressing the "wider context" of what is taking place in Caracas, and in the wider region.

Angus Berwick in the August 22, 2019 Reuters, "Special Report: How Cuba taught Venezuela to quash military dissent" reported that Havana and Caracas signed two agreements in May 2008, that gave Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services wide latitude in the South American country to:

• Train soldiers in Venezuela 
• Review and restructure parts of the Venezuelan military 
• Train Venezuelan intelligence agents in Havana 
• And change the intelligence service’s mission from spying on foreign rivals to surveilling the country’s own soldiers, officers, and even senior commanders.

Havana Times reported on December 8, 2018 that the Organization of American States Secretary General, Luis Almagro, "assured that there has been a 'Cuban presence' in tortures committed in Venezuela. 'It is estimated that the Cuban presence in Venezuela is 46,000 people, an occupation force that teaches to torture, to repress, to do intelligence tasks, civil documentation, migration.'"

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro says Cubans in Venezuela are an occupation force.

One cannot analyze the "wider context" in Venezuela without taking the disproportionate and negative role of Havana into account. It is also important to take into consideration the practices of the Castro regime in Cuba with respect to human rights because those practices are being implemented in Venezuela.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists in their 2019 report, Cuba is the tenth most censored country in the world. Over the past sixty years the Castro dictatorship has had hundreds of thousands of political prisoners, and there are still prisoners of conscience in Cuba today. In six decades of absolute rule the communist regime only permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross access to Cuban prisons over the course of a few months in 1988-1989. There have been no visits in the past thirty years.

The human rights crisis in Venezuela today is the result of the international community's tolerance,  of the Castro dictatorship, the grave human rights situation in Cuba, and the delusion that Havana can play a constructive role in resolving the crisis. Havana is not part of the solution in Venezuela, but has been deeply involved in creating the human rights crisis there. The international community should call for Cuban troops and spies to leave Venezuela as a positive step to resolving the situation.

Below is the debate over the resolution on Venezuela that was held at the UN Human Rights Council earlier today.

The Russians Are Back: More Russian troops deployed to Venezuela to protect Maduro's dictatorship

#RussiaHandsOffVenezuela #RussiaHandsOffAmericanElections

Ilyushin IL-62M unloads Russian soldiers in Venezuela to back Maduro regme.

 On the same day Mueller investigation reveals Russian interference in US elections, news reports emerge that Russian troops are landing in Venezuela to back the Maduro dictatorship.

Maduro's regime invited Russian mercenaries to protect him in Venezuela.  Reports indicate that there are already 2,000 Russian nationals working in intelligence roles and reporting to the Ministry of Defense, and their numbers are increasing.

The Russians have been operating in the Western Hemisphere for years. They pulled out of Cuba at the end of the Cold War, but returned following a disastrous reset during the Obama years.

Congressional and media democrats need to refocus their Russia obsession where it really matters, in Venezuela:

Russian air force planes land in Venezuela carrying troops: reports | Article [AMP] | Reuters https://t.co/XrBjsraqgM

— Ana Rosa Quintana (@ana_r_quintana) March 24, 2019

On March 26, 2012 President Obama was caught on a hot mike telling then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility." President Medvedev replied, "I understand. I transmit this (inaudible) to Vladimir." President Obama went on to win re-election.

By 2014 Vladimir Putin responded to President Obama's promise of "flexibility" by militarily taking part of Ukraine, backing Assad in Syria, and floating the idea of opening Russian military bases in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Everyone knows about Cuba, but not so many know about the Russian presence in Nicaragua.

Despite normal relations and high level outreach early in the Obama Administration the Ortega regime pursued closer relations with Russia and China. In April 2016 Nicaragua purchased 50 Russian battle tanks at a cost of $80 million. Vladimir Putin signed a new security agreement with Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega in 2016.

Ana Quintana is right when she says that their needs to be a refocus on what Russia is doing in Venezuela, but policy makers should also look at they are doing in Cuba and Nicaragua too.

Nicolas Maduro and Vladimir Putin: Alliance of Repression

 

VIII Summit of the Americas in Lima Peru: Castro regime's shock troops try to silence other voices

 Deja vu at the Summit of the Americas

Castro and Maduro shock troops disrupt events at the Summit of the Americas

Today, shock troops of the Castro and Maduro regimes disrupted civil society gatherings running parallel to the Summit of the Americas in an effort to shut down civil discourse and silence dissenting voices from Cuba and Venezuela. This behavior needs to be placed in context.




On April 11, 2018 learned that U.S. citizens of Cuban origin were held for hours at immigration in Peru because the Cuban government had provided a list to the Peruvian government to not allow them to enter. Two days earlier the Castro regime sent a delegation, or a more accurate description would be shock troops,  to the Summit of the Americas in Lima. They walked down the stairs of the plane and began to chant in unison "I am Fidel."


Researcher and translator Michael Lima Cuadra identified one of the Castro regime's shock troops attending the Summit of the Americas. His name is Ronaldo Hidalgo Rivera. He was one of the men who knocked down Daniel Llorente Miranda (age 52) a Cuban dissident on May 1, 2017 as he ran with a flag of the United States outstretched in his arms over his head.

A banner critical of the human rights situation in Cuba and calling for an end to human rights violations was defaced and replaced with graffiti that read #ConCubaNoTeMetas which translates loosely to "Don't mess with Cuba", a slogan repeated by the Castro regime's shock troops.

The pattern of harassment, acts of repudiation and an atmosphere of hostility is reminiscent of what happened at the first Summit of the Americas attended by the Cuban government in April of 2015 when a number of human rights defenders were violently assaulted, and some were hospitalized by agents of the Castro regime.

The Center for a Free Cuba has written a letter to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States and the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and made a formal request for the security of those attending the Summit.

We are calling on you and all democratic governments in the region to do everything possible to protect those now in Lima who wish to exercise their freedom of speech against the Castro dictatorship and in favor of the removal of Cuban security forces from Venezuela where they help the Maduro government to abuse and repress the Venezuelan people.

Three years ago in Panama, at the last Summit of the Americas, shock troops of the Castro regime disrupted civil society events, attacked peaceful demonstrators in a public park, and attempted to stop human rights defenders from being granted entry to the country to attend the regional gathering.

FCF founder Augusto Monge physically assaulted today in Panama by pro-Castro mob #PanamaSummit #SummitoftheAmericas pic.twitter.com/uUWnXCoIgu

— Free Cuba Foundation (@freecubafndtn) April 8, 2015

The 2015 Summit of the Americas in Panama marked the first time that Cuba had been invited to attend. Latin American leaders threatened that the VII Summit would not take place if the Castro regime was not invited. On September 22, 2014 Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at a Americas Society/Council of the Americas meeting in New York City said, "if Cuba doesn’t go, then probably no Summit.”

Cuba has attended two Summits, disrupted them, engaged in violent acts that make a mockery of the democratic pretensions of the gathering. Peruvian authorities need to be vigilant and step up their game to ensure that these shock troops do not injure those attending the Summit of the Americas.

Last Chance for Freedom? Venezuela's dictatorship is cracking down on Venezuelan democrats

"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship." - George Orwell, 1984

MariaCorina in #Aragua, Venezuela with demonstrators tonight

The democratic opposition is using constitutional means and nonviolence to seek an outcome from the current political crisis, but unfortunately according to Secretary of State John Kerry "the United States and Cuba are talking about ways to solve the Venezuelan crisis." This implies that the U.S. is on board with Maduro continuing in power in Venezuela while trying to find ways to stabilize the country by improving the government's behavior. At the same time, despite the Venezuelan regime's rhetoric, remains a major U.S. oil supplier.

Protesters gassed today in Venezuela by the Maduro regime

The Maduro regime has declared a state of emergency as a pretext to crackdown on nonviolent demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights. Today the military and national guard beat up, and tear gassed opposition demonstrators. Maduro has threatened to disappear the National Assembly.

Students repressed and hurt in Merida, Venezuela by regime

 At least 30 were arbitrarily detained today according to Alfredo Romero of the Penal Forum. At the same time armed collectives backed by the police set out to terrorize Venezuelan democrats. Some of these colectivos shot at demonstrators and burned installations at a medical school in Merida to terrorize university students. Meanwhile the regime brought in their own supporters to give the appearance of still have some measure of popular support.

Venezuelan opposition blocked by Bolivarian National Guard

Naturally the Maduro regime resorts to these same old tactics perfected by their Cuban handlers. Meanwhile the same old worn out attacks are made to any who criticize its dictatorial turn. This ignores an unpleasant fact that many would prefer to leave unmentioned. What is taking place today not only in Venezuela, but also in Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia and elsewhere in Latin America is the cost of tolerating injustice in Cuba when a concerted hemispheric response in the early 1990s supporting the democratic aspirations of the Cuban people would have made all the difference.

The head of the National Assembly of Venezuela is complaining of the leadership role played by Cuban officers over the Venezuelan military over social media.

Indignación fan: Gral cubano Gregorich dentro Fuerte Tiuna emite órdenes militares cubanos y también a oficiales venezolanos clan Cabello.

— Henry Ramos Allup (@hramosallup) May 15, 2016

Núcleo 60 oficiales cubanos vive Fuerte Tiuna área Villa Alba infiltrados unidades operativas clave comanda gral cubano apellido Gregorich.

— Henry Ramos Allup (@hramosallup) May 15, 2016

The two tweets above from Henry Ramos Allup are translated as follows:

Outrage FANB: Cuban General Gregorich in Fuerte Tiuna issues orders to Cuban military and Venezuelan officers clan Cabello. Core of 60 Cuban officials live in Fuerte Tiuna infiltrated key operating units commanded by Cuban Gen last name Gregorich.

Maria Adela Castellanos of the CEA University of the Andes tweeted today that "University students protesting peacefully, and the Bolivarian National Guard and collectives lashing out and kidnapping us in the medical school."

Los universitarios protestando pacíficamente, y la GBN y colectivos arremetiendo y secuestrandonos en medicina pic.twitter.com/bKxPapXTze

— Ma Adela Castellanos (@Ade_castellanos) May 18, 2016

The Obama administration's detente policy with Cuba means that Venezuelan democrats on their own. If they are to succeed then understanding this is key to the grand strategy being plotted out and they should also understand that the military has been deeply infiltrated by and controlled by Castro regime agents and officials. The likelihood of a military coup are minimal. The best, and perhaps,  only option is nonviolent civil resistance that recognizing these realities can plot out a path to a democratic transition and the end of the Maduro regime.

Otherwise the Venezuelan government will complete its metamorphosis into a fully totalitarian communist regime and client state of the Castro regime. The difficulty in ridding oneself of that regime will be exponentially more difficult as the ongoing tragedy in Cuba demonstrates.