The UN rights office in Venezuela has been told to “suspend the activities” and its personnel is to depart within 72 hours, according to a statement made by the ministry of foreign affairs on Thursday.
The action was taken two days after Rocio San Miguel, a well-known rights campaigner, was detained and the UN agency voiced “deep concern” and demanded her “immediate release.”
The office has assumed a “inappropriate role,” according to Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, and has turned into “the private law firm of the coup plotters and terrorists who permanently conspire against the country.”
According to him, the agency would not be able to “publicly rectify, before the international community, their colonialist, abusive and violating attitude of the United Nations Charter,” before the judgment was lifted.
Since 2019, the UN Human Rights Office has maintained a presence in Venezuela.