President Jair Bolsonaro has “intensified” the attacks on the electoral process in Brazil, and such a stance is “too bad”. The warning comes from UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet. At his last press conference before leaving his post at the United Nations this Thursday, he spoke about the situation in Brazil and gave an overview of the human rights situation in the country over the past four years.
“I think there are very difficult situations in Brazil right now. Not just now. But political violence is alarming, racism and civic space is shrinking,” he said.
According to him, the UN will closely monitor the effects and consequences of the elections on human rights. His concern, in particular, is hate speech and attacks on candidates and MPs, particularly minorities.
However, Bachelet spent long minutes in harsh criticism against the Brazilian president. “Bolsonaro intensified his attacks on the elections, including his meetings with foreign ambassadors,” he warned.
Even more worrying is that he called his supporters to the demonstration on September 7,” he said.
Bachelet also criticized Bolsonaro’s attacks on other powers. “He must respect other powers,” he insisted. “The president needs to guarantee democracy,” he added.
Bolsonaro’s criticisms have created unease in regional diplomacy
Bachelet has a history of complaints against the Bolsonaro government. He also criticized police violence in Brazil in 2019, which led the president to oppose Chile and praised Augusto Pinochet. The Chilean general was responsible for the death of Bachelet’s father, who in turn was forced to leave Chile as a political exile.
Bolsonaro’s comments caused a deep stir in regional diplomacy and led even the Chilean right to criticize the Brazilian and show support for the former Chilean president.
More recently, he issued a warning about his office’s concerns about violence during elections. He also called for a “non-interference” election. Bachelet’s comments angered Bolsonaro’s government. In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, Itamaraty criticized his comments and warned that the country would not accept outside interference.
Venezuela: Civil space continues to shrink
Bachelet also emphasized how progress has been made in terms of human rights in Venezuela. However, there is still a long way to go and he states that the civic space continues to close.
“There is so much to do,” he said. He advocated re-establishing the dialogue between the government and the opposition so that the next elections could be “fair and transparent”. Dialogue is essential,” he said.
Bachelet also announced that she would call President Nicolas Maduro before leaving office. “I don’t want the promises made to be forgotten,” said the Chilean. According to him, “a long list of concerns” will be presented to the Venezuelan government.
For example, observers in his office have not been allowed to attend the hearings until now.
However, the Chilean defended his strategy in Caracas. “We established a plan to build trust with the government and civil society. We had nothing before. We weren’t there. Now we have something. We will have 16 people in the country. We are going. We can visit prisons to work with victims and families,” he said.
source: Noticias
