During the 13 years Nicolás Maduro was in power, Venezuela saw widespread illegal activities, including fraudulent elections, but women and children were the biggest victims. [Photo=AS/COA]

The absence of law creates social disorder and exacerbates existing inequalities, making women more vulnerable to crime and violence.

During the 13 years Nicolás Maduro was in power, Venezuela saw widespread illegal activities, including fraudulent elections, but women and children were the biggest victims.

In its 2023 World Report, the U.S. NGO Human Rights Watch exposed the reality of violence against women and indigenous people, while also addressing the persecution, arrests, torture, and killings of political opponents in Venezuela.

Armed Illegal Groups Flourish While Judiciary Remains Ineffective

Armed groups such as the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, ELN), the Patriotic National Liberation Front (FPLN), and armed groups derived from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) operate mainly in border regions, imposing curfews and regulating daily life for citizens.

A notable example is the clash on January 1, 2022, between the Eastern Joint Command, a coalition of rebels, and the National Liberation Army over territorial control in the Colombian department of Arauca and the Venezuelan state of Apure.

In this conflict, both groups engaged in human rights abuses, including murder, forced displacement, and forced conscription (of children).

The Human Rights Watch report stated, "Venezuelan security forces conducted joint operations with ELN combatants and were complicit in their abuses," adding that "Venezuelan authorities, far from preventing these abuses, are instead persecuting human rights defenders who oppose them."

Amidst this situation, the judiciary has turned a blind eye. Since 2004, during Hugo Chávez's presidency, the Venezuelan government has systematically controlled the judiciary, turning it into a tool of the executive. Courts have not imposed any legal sanctions on crimes involving the government.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) thoroughly exposed the judicial authorities' wrongdoings in its 2021 report.

They pointed to complicity in various human rights violations, including: △retroactive issuance of arrest warrants for illegal arrests △pre-trial detention orders △detention based on weak evidence △failure to protect victims of torture.

Indigenous Rights Abused During Mining Operations

In 2016, the Maduro regime designated a special mining area encompassing 14 indigenous territories without consulting the indigenous populations.

Deforestation was a given, and indigenous communities near the mines suffered severe mercury poisoning due to its use in separating impurities from gold. Some residents were forcibly displaced.

Following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, Canadian mining company Gold Reserve has indicated plans to reclaim gold and copper mines seized by the Venezuelan government. The Brisas mine, previously operated by Gold Reserve. [Photo=Gold Reserve]

Human Rights Watch has exposed horrific abuses (mutilation), shootings, murders, forced labor, and sexual exploitation committed by groups that have taken over illegal gold mines in southern Venezuela with the government's tacit approval.

For instance, on March 20, 2016, a clash between indigenous Yanomami communities in a remote area of Amazonas state and the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) resulted in the deaths of four indigenous people, and a 16-year-old boy with gunshot wounds was detained for over three months in a military hospital in Caracas.

Furthermore, in June 2022, indigenous leader Virgilio Trujillo, who had received death threats for opposing illegal mining, was shot and killed.

The UN Disaster Management Agency (UN FFM) mentioned the human rights abuses committed by security forces and armed groups, including the ELN, against residents of mining areas in September of that year. They also reported that women and girls were subjected to sexual violence by FANB personnel at checkpoints and by armed factions managing the mines.

In Venezuela, abortion is a crime, meaning women in these situations have no right to decide on an abortion.

People Fleeing Hunger Across Borders

According to the 2022 and 2023 UN Venezuela Humanitarian Response Plan, 5.2 million people required assistance in areas such as health, food security, water, sanitation, and hygiene.

A March 2022 report by the independent Venezuelan information platform ‘HumVenezuela’ indicated that most Venezuelans faced food supply issues, with 10.9 million suffering from malnutrition. It was also recorded that approximately 4.3 million people were starving for days due to food shortages.

As of March of that year, about 8.4 million critically ill patients were unable to receive medical services, and over 9 million lacked medical supplies. The situation was further exacerbated by power outages and water supply problems in medical centers and the emigration of healthcare workers.

HumVenezuela accused, "Despite the severity of the problems, the Maduro government has not released official epidemiological data since 2017."

The only option for people starving due to the government's incompetence was to cross the border.

According to the Venezuelan Refugee Coordination Platform (R4V), approximately 7.1 million Venezuelans fled between 2014 and 2022, with about 5.9 million migrating to Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Many of them became stranded in poor conditions or were unable to obtain refugee status or legal protection, forcing them to head north again. However, official travel was impossible for many due to visa restrictions imposed by Central American countries like Mexico.

Ultimately, their only recourse was to traverse the dangerous jungle region of the Colombia-Panama border.

Among these, the most perilous stretch is the jungle area known as the 'Darién Gap.' The Darién Gap is the only section where the Pan-American Highway, which traverses the Americas from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, is interrupted. It consists of approximately 106 km of rugged mountains, rivers, and dense forests.

Despite the lack of roads and the absence of law enforcement, this dangerous stretch is the only option for migrants who must travel by land from South America to the United States.

Crossing this treacherous jungle is no easy feat; in 2021 alone, from January to October, 50 bodies were recovered.

Panamanian authorities estimate that "the recovered bodies are just the tip of the iceberg, and there are likely many more bodies undiscovered in the jungle."

The problems do not end there. Sexual violence against women is as common in the jungle region as starvation and isolation. There is no safety net to protect women in the dense jungle. Since sexual violence is often accompanied by coercion, women, being at a physical disadvantage, have no choice but to submit.

The bodies of migrants found in the Darién Gap are being buried in a Panamanian cemetery. [AP=Yonhap News]

Despite this, the number of people crossing the jungle has increased significantly, from approximately 1,500 in 2021 to over 107,000 in the first nine months of 2022, a more than 100-fold increase.

As of May 2022, approximately 76,000 Venezuelans had obtained temporary protected status in the United States, but this protection was set to expire on March 10, 2024.

On October 12, 2022, the U.S. government announced it would no longer accept asylum applications from Venezuelans crossing the border. Most of them were deported to Mexico. While some were eligible for official U.S. immigration applications, their numbers were extremely small.

Maduro Regime Has Ruined the Entire Country

The UN made various efforts to help them. In 2021, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights obtained permission from the Maduro government to provide food to children.

Consequently, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) provided meals to 210,000 children in 1,700 schools across seven states by August 2022. This program enabled 1.5 million children to receive meals from 2022 to the end of the 2023 academic year.

Global human rights platforms have been raising funds to assist Venezuelan migrants and vulnerable populations until recently. However, external assistance has its limits.

When the government fails to fulfill its role, economic crises arise, and citizens are unable to secure even the most basic necessities of life.

Venezuela was once the most prosperous nation in Latin America, thanks to its natural resources and stable economic system.

However, the nation's strength, which began to decline after Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999, rapidly deteriorated during Maduro's presidency. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which exceeded $330 billion (approximately 478 trillion KRW) when Maduro took office in 2013, had fallen by 80% by 2020.

Furthermore, as of 2018, hyperinflation saw prices increase by 130,000%, coupled with decreased oil production and defaulting on debt, which downgraded its credit rating to "junk" status. Over 70% of the population fell into extreme poverty, suffering from shortages of food, drinking water, medicine, and daily necessities.

The "brain drain" was a given, and over 7.7 million citizens fled Venezuela. Amidst this, the Maduro government engaged in human rights abuses and corruption, including suppressing dissenting opinions and manipulating elections to maintain power.

Despite these circumstances, some members of the Democratic Party of Korea are arguing that "the Venezuelan issue must be resolved peacefully and diplomatically." Many people are shaking their heads at their claims, deeming them "ignorant and leisurely remarks."

By Reporter Im Yo-hee