Venezuela: Politics and Government
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports of the detention and subsequent release of María Corina Machado; and what representations he has made to the Venezuelan government on the right to free political expression.
Answered by Catherine West
The reported arbitrary detention of Maria Corina Machado was unacceptable. The UK already strongly condemns the ongoing repression against civil society and members of the opposition in Venezuela. We regularly call this out in our public statements and we raised it recently at the UN Human Rights Council. We are confident the Venezuelan regime is aware of our position. Along with the UN and international allies, we remain deeply concerned about allegations of serious irregularities in the result of the July Presidential election. On 10 January, the same day that Maduro illegitimately asserted power once again, we sanctioned 15 new members of the regime responsible for undermining democracy and committing serious human rights violations.
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