The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) Asks OAS to Promote Dialogue 
NEW YORK, Apr.18.─ The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) calls on both incumbent and opposition leaders in Venezuela to resolve the current post-electoral political crisis peacefully and through dialogue. HRF also condemns the physical assault on opposition congressmen Julio Borges and William Davila at the National Assembly, as well as statements made by president-elect Nicolás Maduro, Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz, and the president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, Luisa Estella Morales, in which they held opposition leaders, including Henrique Capriles, responsible for acts of vandalism and political violence that occurred on the night of Monday, April 15.
"Even though both the incumbents and the opposition share a mutual responsibility to reach a peaceful resolution to this crisis, this responsibility falls heavier on the shoulders of Nicolas Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and the leadership of the PSUV, considering that they control all government institutionsfrom the police and the armed forces, to the National Assembly, the Office of the Attorney General, the Supreme Court, and the Electoral Council itself," said Thor Halvorssen, president of HRF. "However, instead of taking steps toward the peaceful resolution of a legitimate demand by Venezuela's citizens, the PSUV approved of the attacks against opposition deputies at the National Assembly, and it seems to have set in motion the entire judicial apparatus to repress the legitimate demands of the opposition for a recount," he added.
During a public speech on April 14, Madurowho the government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) declared the winner of the presidential election with a 1.83% margin of the votesat first welcomed the recount of 100% of the votes to allay any concerns regarding the transparency of the process. The following day, the president of the CNE, Tibisay Lucena, avoided the subject and proclaimed Maduro president-elect.
In response, opposition candidate Capriles called Maduro "illegitimate;" called for a nationwide cacerolazo protest for Monday night; and denounced more than 1000 electoral irregularities that he announced would be formally presented to the CNE in Caracas ...
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