Venezuelans’ hunger strike in front of the UN in New York ended after 10 days

• The three Venezuelans have been on strike since August 7

After 10 days in Hunger strike in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters In New York, in the United States, three Venezuelans managed to obtain a response from the international organization, after demanding the convening of a session to address the issue of the post-electoral crisis in Venezuela.

“Dreams are meant to come true, thank you Venezuela. Two Gochos and a Portuguese man set out to take the voice of an entire country to the United Nations with the sole objective of ensuring that what happens in our country is not left unsaid,” said Daniel Prado, one of the Venezuelans who began the strike on August 7.

Through his Instagram account, Prado indicated that, like his colleagues Franklin Gómez and Oswaldo Dos Santos, they feel “satisfied” to have collaborated in the “freedom process,” because they achieved the publication of the report by the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in which “electoral fraud” by the government of Nicolás Maduro is evident.

Photo: EFE/Angel Colmenares

Response from the UN

Daniel Prado explained that after 245 hours of hunger strike they achieved several advances. Some of them are:

1. The publication of the report by Secretary-General António Guterres, which, in his opinion, shows electoral fraud in the July 28 elections

2. Delivery of the document and request for the Arria formula to the permanent mission of Ecuador to the United Nations, the only Latin American member of the Security Council and the only mission that accepted the request.

3. Bring together the Venezuelan community in New York to make themselves felt outside of Venezuela and remind Venezuelans that they are not alone.

“The Ecuadorian mission has committed to following the case and evaluating the best next steps to take Venezuela’s appeal to the Security Council,” Daniel added.

Start of the hunger strike

On August 7, Daniel Prado and Franklin Gomez They began a hunger strike in front of the UN headquarters in New York. At that time, they assured that they will remain in front of the headquarters of the international organization to demand an extraordinary session with representatives of the UN to address the issue of the Venezuelan crisis, following the announcement of Nicolás Maduro as the re-elected president of Venezuela.

“We are aware that the situation in Venezuela has escalated to critical levels. This is no longer an isolated problem, it is a regional problem and in search of a diplomatic and peaceful situation we turned to the United Nations,” Prado said in an interview for NTN24.

For his part, Venezuelan migrant Franklin Gómez said that the initiative arose to expose the cases of protesters detained, murdered and disappeared in the context of the protests that began on July 29, 2024.

“All Venezuelans are doing their part. Those of us who are abroad are worried and in pain when we see videos of people killed and detained. This is our way of contributing, but we understand that the fight is for everyone,” said Gómez.

They were joined on strike by Oswaldo Dos Santos on August 13, who remained with Prado and Gomez until receiving a response.

HIM Posture

On August 15, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for electoral “transparency” in Venezuela and said that the panel of experts invited to observe the process is continuing with its mandate following the publication, on August 13, of an interim report.

Guterres’ spokesman Farhan Haq said at his daily briefing that the panel’s draft document “was made public under the authority of the secretary-general as part of a normal procedure in line with the organization’s transparency policies.”

Haq added that Guterres “reiterates his call for transparency and encourages the publication of the election results and the breakdown by voting station” in Venezuela.

The preliminary report by the UN panel of electoral experts concluded that the July 28 presidential elections did not “meet the basic standards of transparency and integrity” and that “they are essential for the holding of credible elections.”

The document explains that the development of the elections, as well as the publication of results, “did not follow the legal provisions and did not comply with all the stipulated deadlines.”

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