While we welcome the recent release of political prisoners in Venezuela, this is not sufficient. Hundreds of individuals remain deprived of their liberty for political reasons, and their expedited release is both a humanitarian imperative and a necessary step toward political stability and democracy.
Today at the Permanent Council, I reaffirmed the OAS’s deep concern regarding the human rights situation in Venezuela. In the Americas—our region of peace and democratic values—there can be no justification for imprisoning individuals simply for thinking differently. Repression of any kind must be rejected unequivocally. I thank the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
@CIDH, especially Rapporteurs Gloria Monique de Mees and Edgar Stuardo Ralón, for their continued work, and I reiterate my call for Venezuelan authorities to allow an in-country visit by the IACHR, in support of a Venezuelan-led transition, with hemispheric support, for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.
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