{"id":429,"date":"2015-09-16T01:39:46","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T01:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/?p=429"},"modified":"2015-10-28T00:55:29","modified_gmt":"2015-10-28T00:55:29","slug":"venezuela-snaps-back-at-critics-of-lopez-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/venezuela-snaps-back-at-critics-of-lopez-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela snaps back at critics of L\u00f3pez ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Latin America split as Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru criticize sentencing of opposition leader<\/h4>\n
\"Wife<\/a>

Wife of jailed Venezuelan opposition leader, Leopoldo L\u00f3pez.<\/p><\/div>\n

Venezuela reacted angrily yesterday after Chilean lawmakers voted to approve a congressional document condemning the recent jailing of high-profile opposition leader Leopoldo L\u00f3pez, who was sentenced last week to 13 years and nine months in prison on charges he claims are trumped up.<\/p>\n

In a document approved unanimously by the Senate, Chilean lawmakers expressed their anger at \u201cthe sentence that condemns for 13 years and nine months Mr Leopoldo L\u00f3pez, because the guarantees of due process have been violated.\u201d\u00a0The document also called on the Organization of American States (OAS) to intervene, calling on the body to use its authority to push for the release of L\u00f3pez and other jailed dissidents.<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez, a hardline opposition leader of the Popular Will party with a chequered reputation, was convicted five days ago of inciting protests against the government which began in 2014, along with four other activists. He was also found guilty of provoking arson, violence and damage to public property.<\/p>\n

The trial, held behind closed doors, was widely denounced by human rights groups and opposition supporters, especially when details of the proceedings emerged.\u00a0 Judge Susana Barreiros rejected 58 of the 60 witnesses proposed by the defence, L\u00f3pez\u2019s defence team claim.\u00a0The judicial official however allowed the prosecution to call 108 witnesses.<\/p>\n

In a terse statement in response to yesterday\u2019s vote in Valpara\u00edso, Venezuela\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Chile was \u201cissuing interventionist judgements\u201d and demanded Michelle Bachelet\u2019s government \u201cmaintain a respectful relationship and avoid meddling in internal affairs.\u201d Caracas said it was \u201cnecessary to remind\u201d Chile \u201cthat non-intervention in the internal affairs of another state is a fundamantal principle enshrined in international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trial, held behind closed doors, was widely denounced by human rights groups and opposition supporters, especially when details of the proceedings emerged.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a petulant tone, the government then added, \u201cany statement that violates that essence contributes nothing to the construction and improvement of bilateral relations,\u201d before letting rip with references to dark moments in Chilean history.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Ministry said \u201cVenezuela has never issued or will issue opinions on these serious issues that Chile has lived,\u201d before listing examples such as the \u201cjudicial treatment and allegations of the systematic violations of human rights against the Mapuche people\u201d or \u201cthe impunity of perpetrators of crimes against humanity, committed during the dictatorship\u201d of Augusto Pinochet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEqually, it would be unthinkable (for Venezuela) to make judgements about the privitization of education in Chile, which violates the human rights of the majority who do not have access to education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chilean Congress dismissed Venezuela\u2019s claims, saying its stance \u201crefers to a respectful expression about human rights and fundamental guarantees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since its people defeated the dictatorship, Chile has received statements both from foreign governments and bodies about the situation of human rights in our country, and we have never seen them as meddling in internal affairs,\u201d the Chilean Foreign Ministry stated.<\/p>\n

Separately, the Chilean Socialist Party (PS) issued a statement, saying the jailing of L\u00f3pez is detrimental to human rights.<\/p>\n

LatAm criticism<\/h4>\n

With its declarations, Chile becomes the latest Latin American country to express its concern over L\u00f3pez\u2019s sentence, lining up alongside Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith regard to the judgment in the case of Leopoldo L\u00f3pez and four Venezuelan citizens,\u201d the Peruvian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, \u201cthe Government of Peru wishes to express its concern about the situation of internal polarization that affects its sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.\u201d\u00a0Peru called for dialogue between the \u201cvarious political forces\u201d to \u201cmaintain peace and tranquility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Costa Rica\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs too said it had reacted \u201cwith concern\u201d to L\u00f3pez\u2019s conviction. President Luis Guillermo Sol\u00eds went even further, openly criticizing the judgment, saying \u201cI think it\u2019s a very bad idea to use the courts to punish citizens for their political views.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Paraguayan government led by Horacio Cartes hinted that it too didn\u2019t feel the opposition leader had faced a fair trial. The government said that \u201cas is well known, since the dawn of independence, Paraguay has always defended and afforded full respect of the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of states, but nevertheless, it has categorical on the protection of fundamental rights, such as civil and political rights.”<\/p>\n

Asunci\u00f3n said it hoped L\u00f3pez, and the students convicted alongside him, would \u201cbe able to exercise their right to defence in a trial,\u201d should they appeal the conviction and sentence and called for \u201csincere dialogue among all political and social sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continental split<\/h4>\n

Further north, the United States also declared its disapproval in the immediate aftermath of the sentencing on Thursday night, warning the ruling could hurt attempts to normalize relations between the two governments.<\/p>\n

Much of the rest of Latin America however has failed to pass public comment, with the situation seeming to split the continent.<\/p>\n

Uruguay \u2014 also currently the holder of the rotating presidency of the Unasur \u2014 failed to comment publicly on the ruling, but reports have emerged of a split in the ruling Broad Front (FA) coalition over the issue.\u201d\u00a0Last week, two senators \u2014 Rafael Michelini and Daniela Payss\u00e9 \u2014 broke ranks to slam the ruling and brand L\u00f3pez a \u201cpolitical prisoner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazil too was mostly quiet, with the most high-profile comments coming from opposition Senator Aloysio Nunes, who said the ruling threatened the legitimacy of Venezuela\u2019s upcoming parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n

The rest of the continent \u2014 and notably many of the region\u2019s presidents, including Tabar\u00e9 V\u00e1zquez, Juan Manuel Santos, Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto, Rafael Correa and Evo Morales \u2014 on the whole remained silent.<\/p>\n

In Argentina and Brazil, the most prominent voice to denounce the trial was presidential candidate Mauricio Macri, the PRO leader running under the Let\u2019s Change banner in October. Macri called on the members of the Mercosur to \u201cintervene,\u201d to safeguard L\u00f3pez\u2019 right to freedom.<\/p>\n

@URLgoeshere<\/em><\/p>\n

Originally published in the Buenos Aires Herald<\/span><\/a><\/span>, on Wednesday, September 16, 2015.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Link: http:\/\/www.buenosairesherald.com\/article\/198838\/venezuela-snaps-back-at-critics-of-l%C3%B3pez-ruling<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Latin America split as Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru criticize sentencing of opposition leader Venezuela reacted angrily yesterday after Chilean lawmakers voted to approve a congressional document condemning the recent jailing of high-profile opposition leader Leopoldo L\u00f3pez, who was sentenced last week to 13 years and nine months in prison on charges he claims […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,37,100,562,274,99],"tags":[571,572,310,577,575,573,521,567,568,311,277,357,569,576,578,231,574,570,525,524,115],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buenos-aires-herald","category-journalism","category-latin-america","category-leopoldo-lopez","category-venezuela","category-world","tag-571","tag-chavismo","tag-chile","tag-complaints","tag-costa-rica","tag-hugo-chavez","tag-latin-america","tag-leopoldo-lopez","tag-lilian-tintori","tag-michelle-bachelet","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-opposition","tag-paraguay","tag-peru","tag-row","tag-south-america","tag-susana-barreiros","tag-trial","tag-united-states","tag-uruguay","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":456,"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions\/456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jgrainger.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}