Protests erupt in Caracas during UN rights chief’s visit

Bloomberg

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on the Venezuelan government to release political prisoners.
“I call on the authorities to free all those who are detained for peacefully exercising their civil and political rights,” Bachelet said via webcast before departing Venezuela after a three-day visit.
The UN will leave two officials in Caracas to provide technical assistance and to more closely monitor the country’s human rights situation, Bachelet said. Venezuela’s government also agreed to an evaluation of the national commission on torture prevention and another study of the obstacles to accessing the justice system, she said.
Protests broke out in eastern Caracas during the final day of Bachelet’s visit.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the UN’s Venezuela office to denounce what they say are the myriad of rights abuses by the regime of President Nicolas Maduro, including extrajudicial killings, hundreds of political prisoners and detained journalists.
“Bachelet, do not be fooled, this is a dictatorship!” protesters shouted, many of them holding signs calling for the release of lawmaker Juan Requesens, detained since August for his alleged participation in a plan to assassinate Maduro. Demonstrators also invited the former Chilean president to visit Maracaibo, a city in
northwestern Venezuela where chronic blackouts and gasoline shortages have wreaked havoc on municipal services, security, health care and daily life.
“This is a peaceful protest, demonstrating the need we have for medicines such as antibiotics or chemotherapy in the country,” said Beatriz Gonzalez, a hospital worker protesting alongside coworkers dressed in scrubs.