Venezuelan envoy resigns to protest Maduro’s actions
UNITED NATIONS — Venezuelan diplomat Isaias Medina said he resigned because of the systematic persecution of civilians, “state terrorism” and violations of the constitution by President Nicolas Maduro’s government — and he said Maduro should resign, too.
Medina, an international lawyer who was a minister counselor at Venezuela’s U.N. mission, told The Associated Press on Thursday night that the last 100 days, which have left more than 15,000 people injured and over 100 dead, “made a huge impact on me.”
He said he decided to resign “based on principles” because “it would be hypocritical to remain here not representing what the values of the U.N. Charter are.”
And he had a message for Maduro: “Leave the office so that a new government can take place and do their job.”
“This is a failed state,” Medina said. “This is a fugitive government and a complete dictatorship. … Maduro does not have the right to be in that office.”
Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela’s U.N. ambassador, rejected Medina’s remarks and said the diplomat had been fired.
“I condemn the conduct of Isaias Medina. We have immediately relieved him of his duties. He does not represent us. He has acted in a dishonest manner,” Ramirez said in one of two Thursday evening tweets on the matter.
Medina said he worked as a lawyer, including in New York in the 1990s, and had been a diplomat for about two years and four months, almost all that time at the United Nations.
He said he represented Venezuela on the General Assembly committee dealing with legal issues and was vice chairman for Latin America at last month’s first-ever U.N. conference on protecting the world’s oceans.
What made him resign?
“The violence and aggressive repression against students” was the final straw, he said.