Ted Deutch says U.S. not represented at United Nations

Ted Deutch / The Floridian

On Thursday Venezuela's government, under Nicolás Maduro, joined the United Nations Human Rights Council. An unusual post for a regime who is accused of torture, intimidation, and murder as a means to remain in power. Florida Congressman Ted Deutch (D, FL) called out the fact that the United States is no longer at the table to speak up.

Maduro's government is no longer seen as legitimate by 56 countries including the United States. Last month Costa Rica also jumped into the election for the last two remaining Latin American seats; as a way to deny Venezuela a three-year term. Thanks to support by China, Russia, Cuba, and other allies, Venezuela won the seat along with Brazil.

“We celebrate, once again, the Bolivarian diplomacy of peace at the U.N.,” Guaidó Guaidó Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said after the vote. “This victory is historic, since we faced a ferocious campaign.”

Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader in Venezuela, accused the government of murdering Edmundo Rada, a former councilman from Petare in the eastern part of Caracas. Guaidó asked for this and other murders to be investigated by the international community.

“On the same day that the U.N. permits a dictatorship like Maduro’s to occupy a seat bathed in blood,” Guaidó said, “the regime produces a human rights violation.”

Julio Borges, the foreign relations representative for opposition leader Juan Guaidó, said Maduro “mortgaged everything” to win the seat.

“But what he doesn’t know is that this maneuvering won’t let him hide his crimes,” Borges said. “Elected democracies in this body will increasingly isolate the dictatorship and will expose its human rights violations.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Venezuela’s election to the council “truly tragic.”

“This is a harsh blow not just against the victims of the Venezuelan regime, but also against the cause of human rights around the world,” he said. “The Human Rights Council ought to be a protector and defender of human rights of people the world over. It should be speaking out about the daily abuses of the former Maduro regime.”

Yendi Alvarez

Miami native and digital media expert. Political science and international relations geek. Former contributor at Times of Israel and founder of GOP TV Miami. Currently hosting video podcasts at VARA TV.