Venezuela has ordered the local office of the United Nations human rights body to suspend operations and given its staff 72 hours to leave, accusing it of promoting opposition to the South American country.
The move came two days after the UN agency expressed “deep concern” over the detention of prominent rights activist Rocio San Miguel and called for her “immediate release.” Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil said the UN rights office had taken on an “inappropriate role” and had become “the private law firm of the coup plotters and terrorists who permanently conspire against the country.”
The detention of San Miguel comes in a crunch election year that has already seen Maduro block his main opposition rival, prompting the US to threaten to reimpose recently eased oil sanctions. Authorities said in January that they had uncovered five plots to assassinate Maduro, implicating rights activists, journalists, and soldiers.
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