Leopoldo Eduardo López Mendoza is a Venezuelan opposition leader. He co-founded the political party Primero Justicia in 2000 with Julio Borges. López was elected mayor of the Chacao Municipality of Caracas in the regional elections held in July 2000. He is the National Coordinator of another political party,Voluntad Popular,which he founded in 2009.
The Mercosur Parliament,known also as Parlasur,or Parlasul,is the parliamentary institution of the Mercosur trade bloc. It is composed of 81 MPs,18 from each member states of the bloc –Argentina,Brazil,Paraguay and Uruguay –and 9 from applying member Venezuela. Associate members –Bolivia,Chile,Colombia,Ecuador and Peru –may also hold seats in the Parliament,but with no voting powers.
The record of human rights in Venezuela has been criticized by human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Concerns include attacks against journalists,political persecution,harassment of human rights defenders,poor prison conditions,torture,extrajudicial executions by death squads,and forced disappearances.
The Southern Common Market,commonly known by Spanish abbreviation Mercosur,and Portuguese Mercosul,is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full members are Argentina,Brazil,Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela is a full member but has been suspended since 1 December 2016. Associate countries are Bolivia,Chile,Colombia,Ecuador,Guyana,Peru,and Suriname.
Currently,Mercosur is composed of five full members,five associated countries and two observer countries:
Tibisay Lucena Ramírez was a Venezuelan politician,president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) between 2006 and 2020,one of the five branches of government of Venezuela. Since 2017,Lucena was sanctioned by several countries for her role in undermining democracy and human rights in the country.
Lilian Adriana Tintori Parra is a Venezuelan activist,athlete,and television and radio host. Tintori is the wife of Leopoldo López,a Venezuelan politician sentenced in 2015 to nearly 14 years in prison for inciting violence during street protests the year before. She has also led groups who have opposed the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Colectivos are far-left Venezuelan armed paramilitary groups that support the Bolivarian government,the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) political alliance and Venezuela's ruling party,and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Colectivo has become an umbrella term for irregular armed groups that operate in poverty-stricken areas.
Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez is a Venezuelan lawyer,diplomat,and politician serving as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Gómez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. She was also Minister of Popular Power for Communication and Information of Venezuela from 2013 to 2014,Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2017 and President of the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela from 4 August 2017 to 14 June 2018 until her retirement from office on June 15,2018 to assume the vice presidency of the country. She currently holds the positions of Minister of Economy,Finance,and Foreign Trade,and Executive Vice President of Venezuela. She is a member of the national leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. The European Union,the United States and Canada have placed sanctions on her for human rights violations and the political crisis in the country.
María Iris Varela Rangel is a Venezuelan leftist politician,activist,criminologist,member of the board of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and Minister of Popular Power for the Prison Service.
Foro Penal is a Venezuelan human rights organization that provides legal assistance pro bono to people subject of arbitrary detentions and their relatives. The organization is composed of regional coordinators for each state in Venezuela,pro bono lawyers on a national level and a network of over five thousand volunteers,non-lawyer activists,known as "active defensors".
Vehicle registration plates of the Mercosur are a system under implementation in the Mercosur member states,regional bloc and intergovernmental organization founded in 1991.
Torture in Venezuela has been a consistent phenomenon throughout its history. Various dictatorships from the Spanish colonial era into the twentieth century utilized torture against common criminals and political opponents. In the twentieth century,torture was common during the dictatorships of Juan Vicente Gómez and Marcos Pérez Jiménez. Torture also took place occasionally during Venezuela's democratic period,particularly during social outbursts,such as during the Caracazo and the 1992 coup attempts.
Geraldine Patricia Chacón Villarroel is a lawyer,human rights advocate and student of Liberal Studies at the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas. Chacón was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International who issued an urgent action calling for her immediate and unconditional release on 27 April 2018.
Rafael Ramón Acosta Arévalo was a Venezuelan military officer with the rank of corvette captain of the Venezuela Navy. Acosta Arévalo was victim of forced disappearance and tortured by agents of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) during his detention after being accused by the government of Nicolás Maduro of "conspiring to carry out an attempted coup d'état". Acosta Arévalo died as a result of injuries suffered after being tortured while in detention in the Military Hospital of the Army Dr. Vicente Salias Sanoja. The news of his death caused great impact in the media and the condemnation of both national and international authorities.
Rufo Antonio Chacón Parada is a Venezuelan student who lost both eyes on 2 July 2019 due to police brutality during a protest.
The Constitutional Law Against Hatred,for Peaceful Coexistence and Tolerance,also known simply as the Law Against Hatred,is a law passed unanimously by the Venezuelan Constituent National Assembly and published in Gaceta Oficial 41,274 on 8 November 2017.
The La Vega raid was a police raid that occurred on 8 January 2021 in La Vega Parish,Caracas,Venezuela. The objective of the raid was to take control of La Vega Parish,which was controlled by a criminal organization,led by Leonardo JoséPolanco Angulo;he was a drug lord,known as "El Loco Leo". Members of the Venezuelan National Police (PNB),the Special Action Forces (FAES) and the Venezuelan National Guard seized control of the parish,killing a number of people in the neighborhood. According to investigative journalists and human rights organizations,the death toll was 23 people. By 11 January,no member of the Nicolás Maduro administration had made a statement about the events or announced a death toll.
Luis Carlos Díaz Vázquez is a Venezuelan journalist and cyberactivist. He has worked at the Instituto Radiofónico Fe y Alegría,the Centro Gumilla and newspapers such as El Nacional and Tal Cual,as well as a radio host at Circuito Unión Radio,and served as a member of the editorial board of SIC magazine. Luis Carlos was arbitrarily detained in 2019 by agents of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) during the nationwide blackouts of that year,being declared by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. He was released the following day with precautionary measures and his case was archived in 2021,suspending such measures.
Enforced disappearances in Venezuela have been characterized by being of short duration,occurring mainly during the administration of Nicolás Maduro. In 2018,there were at least 200 cases of enforced disappearances,and in 2019 at least 524 cases,with an average duration of five days. According to Foro Penal and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights,the short duration of the disappearances have been intended to avoid the scrutiny that could come with large-scale and long-term detentions. A 2019 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that enforced disappearances had been used In Venezuela as a method by the government to censor opponents and instill fear. The Venezuelan constitution prohibits enforced disappearance,even in states of emergency.
