Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a small copy of the constitution as he gives a speech during the presidential inauguration ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Andrea Romero)
CARACAS, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has strongly disapproved the latest report about the country issued by the Office of the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights and demanded a rectification.
In a letter addressed to the head of the UN office, Michelle Bachelet, and delivered on Friday in Geneva, Maduro said: "I extend to you our utmost and absolute rejection of the report submitted," and called for "correction of the serious errors, false accusations and omissions it contains."
Maduro said that the report, presented on July 5 at the UN Human Rights Council, is full of false statements, misrepresentations and manipulations in the use of data and sources.
The report "is unfortunately aligned with the media and political narrative imposed by Washington, which symbolically attacks Venezuela," the president said.
The letter also notes that the United States has "stripped Venezuela of more than 30 billion U.S. dollars of its oil assets abroad" and "blocked and confiscated more than 7 billion U.S. dollars for the purchase of food and medicines."
People walk in front of closed stores in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, March 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Marcos Salgado)
"Can we call this a humanitarian crisis or should we speak of the illegal, illegitimate and criminal application of unilateral coercive measures aimed at the collapse of our country?" Maduro questioned in the letter.
Bachelet visited Venezuela on June 21-23 and met with various representatives in the political and social circles of the South American country.
