In a joint statement, the special rapporteurs expressed their concern about the attack perpetrated on January 3 against the South American country, which included the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

They also stated that “any unilateral decision by the United States to temporarily place Venezuela under its control would violate international law and human rights, including self-determination.”

Latin America is a zone of peace. The obligation to resolve conflicts peacefully must be respected.

We express our willingness to provide technical support and to engage in constructive dialogue with all relevant actors, they added.

They also reiterated that the future of Venezuela must be decided solely by its people.

For his part, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, considered the excessive and unlawful use of force by Washington, both extraterritorially and domestically, in police operations, especially those related to immigration control, to be alarming.

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