A new report has said religious leaders in Venezuela continue to face surveillance, intimidation and violence despite the removal of former president Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
Christian religious freedom watchdog Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has claimed that figures within the ruling Socialist Union of Venezuela Party remain firmly in control and responsible for ongoing violations of freedom of religion or belief.
Titled Self-Censorship and Social Control: The Situation of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Venezuela, the report said the government promotes religious programmes and ceremonies for groups aligned with the regime while targeting leaders who remain independent or critical.
It added that many pastors now practise self-censorship in sermons, prayers and even private meetings because of fears that government informants could be present.
The report also highlighted the case of Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, who was reportedly prevented from travelling to lead a Mass in honour of the newly canonised Venezuelan physician José Gregorio Hernández and later had his passport seized by authorities.
CSW’s director of advocacy for the Americas, Anna Lee Stangl, said the international community must ensure that any future negotiations over Venezuela’s political situation include clear goals to tackle religious persecution.
"With or without Maduro at the helm, the Socialist Union of Venezuela Party remains responsible for widespread human rights violations, including the persecution of religious leaders, the consistent repression of independent civil society, and even the massacre and forced displacement of indigenous groups," she said.
"The international community must ensure that any discussions of Venezuela’s uncertain future set benchmarks for the measurable improvements in the protection of freedom of religion or belief, as well as for religious and humanitarian actors, and indigenous peoples and their spiritual rights."
On 26th February, the ousted Venezuelan president asked a judge to throw out his U.S. drug trafficking case, accusing the U.S. government of interfering with his defense by blocking the Venezuelan government from paying his legal fees.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores both pleaded not guilty on Jan. 5 to drug trafficking charges that could land them in prison for decades. They are jailed in New York awaiting trial.
