HRW denounces unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Venezuela

Radio France International News from America

April 5, 2019

In Venezuela, the combination of drug shortages, medical care and food has created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis according to the United Nations and several NGOs, such as Human Rights Watch.

The crisis in Venezuela has created a "complex humanitarian emergency" that requires a large-scale response from the UN, said experts from Johns Hopkins University and the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW). ) in a joint report published on April 4. .

According to a report released last week by the UN, nearly a quarter of Venezuela's population, or 7 million people, needs urgent humanitarian badistance.

"In Venezuela, we are seeing epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and diphtheria, an exponential increase in the number of diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, and a very high percentage of HIV-positive Venezuelans who are not infected. not treated today retroviral (nine out of ten), "says Tamara Taraciuk, HRW researcher in Argentina. A very complicated picture that gets worse because of the problem of food insecurity.

"There is a wide variety of drugs that are very difficult to access, and these are not complicated or expensive treatments," the researcher says, stating that the underlying problem affects "almost all Venezuelans". 39, whole country. even in Caracas, even if, inside, the situation is worse.

A health crisis that is being exported due to the mbad exodus of Venezuelans to Colombia and Brazil: "The consequence is a direct impact on the health systems of those countries that are unable to provide medical treatment and food to the number of Venezuelans crossing the border.It is estimated that about 5,000 people leave Venezuela every day to stay in Colombia or Brazil, "Taraciuk said.

The situation in Venezuela is very particular and it is difficult to compare it with that of other countries: "What makes it unique in Venezuela is that we do not face a humanitarian emergency resulting from a war or 'a natural disaster."

For Tamara Taraciuk, the government is largely responsible for this crisis: "It is a crisis generated by the practices and policies of a government that has exacerbated the needs of the population." By denying the crisis, by suppressing information epidemiological, harbading doctors, concealing the reality of the country, the Venezuelan authorities under the administration of Maduro contributed to the crisis and are responsible for violations of health rights and the right to food of Venezuelan population ".

The entry of humanitarian aid into Venezuela was a central element in the January raging power struggle between President Nicolás Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized as interim president by the United States, and more than 50 countries.

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