Costa Rica presents itself as alternative to Venezuela for the UN Human Rights Council

Costa Rica presented itself to serve on the UN Human Rights Council as an alternative to Venezuela, which the Central American country discredited for atrocities denounced by the UN itself, Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado said Thursday.

“Due to the serious violations against human rights that the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Michelle Bachelet) evidenced, the Venezuelan regime is not a suitable candidate for the UN Human Rights Council,” President Alvarado tweeted. “Costa Rica is proposed as an alternative.”

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Due to the serious violations against human rights evidenced by the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Venezuelan regime is not the suitable candidate for the UN #HumanRights Council. #CostaRica is proposed as an alternative.

— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) October 3, 2019

Before Oct. 3, only Venezuela and Brazil had been in the running for the election, which will be held in mid-October.

As Human Rights Watch notes, there are two council seats available for the region, so Venezuela was virtually guaranteed a berth before Costa Rica decided to compete for a spot.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, supported San José in a message on Twitter.

“Our full support for the candidacy of Costa Rica. It would be inadmissible for those who committed human rights violations and crimes against humanity to occupy the seat in the UN Human Rights Council,” Almagro wrote.

The UN Human Rights Council decided last Friday to create a group of experts to investigate atrocities committed in Venezuela since 2014. Caracas called the initiative “hostile.”