In statements to Euronews, former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana said that in Venezuela there has not been an electoral fraud but a ‘coup d’état’. He urged the International Criminal Court to protect the country’s civilian population.
A coalition of former Ibero-American heads of state urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for crimes against humanity and state terrorism.
The IDEA group, led by former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, composed of 31 former heads of government from Venezuela’s neighbouring region, have called on the ICC to issue the warrant for Maduro and those within his chain of command.
This appeal follows a controversial July presidential election in which Maduro was declared the winner, despite widespread international concerns over the transparency of the vote. The opposition claims there concrete evidence that the incumbent was actually defeated.
Protests erupted across the country after the contested results, leading to at least 23 deaths, dozens of injuries, and thousands of arrests.
“There was no electoral fraud, but a coup d’état,” Pastrana told Euronews, adding that a document signed by dozens of former leaders from Latin America and Spain urged the ICC to fulfil its “preventive function” and take “corresponding actions to protect the civilian population in Venezuela.”
Pastrana stated that these actions should include issuing an international arrest warrant against Maduro.
The signatories of the document assert that “crimes against humanity” and the “systematic repression” of the Venezuelan people, along with opposition leaders, are “the work of an operational military structure, whose chain of command is directly exercised by Nicolás Maduro Moros, in his capacity as active military personnel and commander in chief.”
The IDEA Group points to the direct responsibility of Maduro and his leadership.
The ICC had previously opened an investigation into Venezuela following allegations of crimes against humanity coming from several Latin American countries and Spain.
However, that investigation has so far continued without directly targeting any names at the top of the state.
Pastrana told ‘Euronews’ that, with the complaint filed in The Hague, IDEA want to draw attention to the direct responsibility of those involved in what he denounces as a systematic persecution of, among others, journalists, electoral witnesses and politicians.
“Those directly responsible for crimes against humanity are Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his number two Diosdado Cabello.”
The document includes signatures from former Latin American leaders such as Pastrana, Colombia’s Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque, Argentina’s Mauricio Macri and Spain’s José María Aznar, Mariano Rajoy and Felipe González.
Concern for María Corina Machado and Edmundo González
Pastrana also expressed concern for the safety of opposition leader María Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo González.
Maduro’s government refuses to present documentary evidence of an official victory for the election, despite calls for transparency from the international community.
The European Union does not consider Maduro or González to be the winner of the elections and insists that Venezuela must officially publish all results.
Argentina also calls on ICC for arrest
The current government under Javier Milei in Buenos Aires has also called on the ICC to act.
Argentina’s foreign ministry argued that the recent actions of Nicolas Maduro’s government could constitute crimes against humanity, asking for Maduro to be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court.
How did it come to this?
In 2013, former bus driver Maduro took power in Venezuela following the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez. Since then it has been controversy after controversy.
For Maduro, the pressure has piled up both domestically and internationally over the contested July 28 election.
The opposition has claimed victory for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and the results of the election have plunged the Latin American nation into a state of turmoil.
