Antonio Mugica 
Venezuela’s government has ignored the Vatican’s call to suspend the formation of a new Constituent Assembly, a body tasked with re-writing the country’s constitution.
The motion to elect the body, which is capable of overriding the powers of all other government branches, was passed after a referendum last Sunday. This week the UN human rights office says it has discovered widespread use of violence by the government against protestors. The referendum was tarnished by controversy after Antonio Mugica, the CEO of Smartmatic (the company that provided the voting machines), said the results had been “tampered” with.
Mr Mugica said there could have been one million less votes than the government’s claim of eight million. This comes as the US imposed sanctions on President Nicolás Maduro, banning US firms and businesses from working with him.
The Vatican statement expresses “profound concern for the radicalisation and worsening of the crisis”, including the increase in deaths, injuries and arrests of protesters.
It calls on all the country’s politicians and the government, to guarantee “full respect for human rights and basic freedoms, as well as for the existing Constitution”.
Over 100 people have been killed since protests began in April.
