Well, in the year of 2012, something unusual and embarrassing occurred

for Venezuela, it was an instruction that was given by the president Hugo Chavez to the

then chancellor Nicolas Maduro, to withdraw Venezuela from the Interamerican System for Human Rights.

In other words, Venezuela pretends to disown the Interamerican Court of Rights

headquartered in San Jose

and to place Venezuela at the margin of the Interamerican System. This is

an aberration from a political point of view, from the ethical point of view, and from the juridical point of view

because the Venezuelan constitution places human rights related treaties

above or at the same rank as the constitution,

above the ordinary laws, and that brings as a consequence that Hugo Chavez’s government

cannot withdraw. In other words, our presence in the system is a right

that has been given for the rest of our lives and no one should be able to withdraw.

Since then, Venezuela has pretended to evade control from the Interamerican System.

The commission continues to exercise its vigilance and continues to dictate precautionary measures,

but the government ignores them and doesn’t permit the commission to visit,

and in regards to the courts, not a single new trial has been established since Venezuela’s withdrawal.

Ambassador, now that we are having this conversation, how do you evaluate,how do you evaluate the visit

of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the United Nations, Michelle Bachelet, in Venezuela?

Well, it’s normal that the High

Commissioner goes to Venezuela. Looking at the schedule, I think that there are too many protocolar visits

to officials and not enough presence of the Commissioner with

human right’s victims or with patients that are not being seen by hospitals,

with the family members of those who have been killed or are tortured, or the family members of

those who are imprisoned. I would have liked to see Michelle Bachelet in the Helicoide, in La Tumba (the tomb),

in the military prison of Ramo Verde. That is the real work that is expected from her,

and I see in her schedule a succession of protocolar interviews that

don’t mean absolutely anything and that impedes her to truly realize the work for which

she was designated, which is to ensure the respect for human rights.