Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-02-27-Speech-4-014-000"
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"en.20140227.4.4-014-000"2
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"Mr[nbsp ]President, it is hardly surprising that I have never been a fan of the late Hugo Chávez in Venezuela or his incompetent protégé Nicolas Maduro, who increasingly looks like a dictator. But this resolution on Venezuela, an oil-rich country, has got nothing to do with the disastrous economic policies which they pursued. What is at stake is the fundamental right of people to protest against their own government without fear of violence or oppression, and to express their views in a free press and through the internet.
I condemn, as does my group, the murders of the 13 protestors by government forces, and I extend my condolences to their families. Clearly their deaths must be investigated, and all those who have been behind this must be brought to justice. Maduro may well have been democratically elected, but attempts to censor the media and crack down on opponents risk causing immeasurable harm to his democratic credentials. The situation in Venezuela is precarious. The country already has a very high murder rate. Now the combination of uncontrolled pro-Government militias, the recent arrest of the leading opposition figure Leopoldo López and student demonstrators, and the roadblocks erected by opposition figures, could presage a descent into potentially disastrous violence or even civil war.
President Maduro, who is behaving increasingly like his mentor, Fidel Castro in Cuba, must release the opposition figures. He must release the journalists and the students in custody, and ensure that the groups acting on his behalf are disarmed without delay. I urge the government to reach out to civil society and to guarantee, by lifting all the media restrictions, that more voices are heard in a more pluralistic society. If the EU can help in any way, we should be there in order to make sure there is true democracy in that country."@en1
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