MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

European Parliament supports “politically persecuted Venezuelans”

The European Parliament (EP) approved on Thursday a resolution in solidarity with “all those people suffering political persecution in Venezuela,” currently embodied in former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, who was granted political asylum in Peru.

The resolution, drafted by the Group of the European People's Party (EPP), (Christian Democrats), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) was endorsed by 29 MEPs in a vote in which the socialist group, after refusing to sign the text, finally abstained from participating, Efe reported.

In the document, the European Parliament expressed “deep concern” for the “deteriorated situation and quality” of democracy in Venezuela, which – in its opinion – is in “serious danger of collapse as a result of the concentration of power in the hands of President Hugo Chávez and his growing authoritarianism.”

The resolution adopted in Strasbourg's plenary session stressed that under the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), for a democratically-elected government to exercise power, together with legitimacy granted in elections, the rule of law and the rights of political opponents should be observed.

Furthermore, the EP urged Venezuelan authorities to direct their policies through dialogue and “give participation to the different political parties that have been elected and chosen by the Venezuelan society,” in compliance with the Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Venezuelan diplomatic sources “categorically” rejected the resolution for “ignoring the legality” of the charges filed against Rosales, who “committed acts of corruption,” as well as the sentence to prison of the Metropolitan Police chiefs, against whom there was plenty of evidence.