Venezuela intensified ‘repressive machinery’ after Maduro re-election: UN

Crackdown following Nicolas Maduro’s contested re-election in July has left 25 dead and 2,400 in jail.

Venezuela’s government has unleashed an unprecedented wave of repression following the contested re-election of Nicolas Maduro in July’s presidential election, a United Nations fact-finding mission has reported.

Maduro’s victory in the disputed vote saw authorities crack down on the opposition and protesters, the mission said in its report released on Tuesday. The response of the authorities has thrown the country into one of its most “acute human rights crises in recent history” the report by the UN Human Rights Council (OHCHR) warned.

Amid weeks of unrest on Venezuela’s streets, 25 protesters were killed and at least 2,400 arrested, the report said.

“We are witnessing an intensification of the state’s repressive machinery in response to what it perceives as critical views, opposition or dissent,” said Marta Valinas, chair of the fact-finding mission.

Twenty-four out of the 25 deaths were caused by gunshot wounds, mostly to the neck, the mission reported. Many of those arrested, including more than 100 children, “were accused of terrorism and incitement to hatred”, it noted.