Venezuela takes a seat at UN human rights table despite outcry

CARACAS, Venezuela— The government of President Nicolás Maduro won a seat Thursday on the U.N. Human Rights Council, a controversial victory for a regime accused of using intimidation, torture and murder to cling to power.

The Maduro government, no longer recognized as legitimate by the United States and around 50 other countries, had sought a return to the 47-member panel to counter an image of international isolation — and thwart investigations into its own alleged abuses.

Venezuela and regional rival Brazil beat out Costa Rica for the two Latin American seats up for election. Costa Rica had declared its candidacy only this month in an effort to deny Venezuela a threeyear term, but the support of China, Russia, Cuba and other allies gave the socialist state the win.

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

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.”

The General Assembly elected 14 members to new terms Thursday. Countries can serve up to two consecutive terms before withdrawing for at least a year.

Human rights watchdogs had urged U.N. members to reject the Venezuelan bid.

“With the seat, Venezuela will try to undermine scrutiny of its abuses and the abuses of its allies,” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch. “The council’s factfinding missions and commissions of inquiry have done outstanding work. The votes on some issues can be close, so we don’t need countries like Venezuela who try to undermine the good work.”

Official corruption and mismanagement in the oilrich nation are blamed for hyperinflation, widespread power outages and shortages of food, water and medicine. Four million people have fled the country in recent years.

The Human Rights Council has a long history of members with problematic records. Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Cuba are current members, Libya and Sudan also won seats Thursday, and Venezuela served as recently as last year.