Initiative demanding the release of Oswaldo Álvarez Paz continues

The Venezuelan politician Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, who participated in the Forum 2000 Conference in 2008, has been imprisoned for over a month in a solitary confinement cell without windows, with only one opportunity a week to go outside. The former Governor of Zulia state and President of the Chamber of Deputies was arrested on March 22, 2010 after criticizing the Venezuelan government in a televised speech. A court could sentence him to up to 15 years in prison.

 

An open letter addressed to the Venezuelan government demanding the release of Oswaldo Álvarez Paz was signed by more than 30 former delegates of the Forum 2000 Conferences. Among the signatories are Václav Havel, Zygmunt Bauman, Humberto Celli, Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Kasyanov and Don McKinnon. In addition to this open letter, the Forum 2000 Foundation released an article “Freedom Arrested in Venezuela“ that was published by media from around the world, including The Guardian (United Kingdom), Le Temps (Switzerland), The Hindustan Times (India), Burma Digest (Burma). Most notably, newspapers from quite a few Latin American countries printed the article, including Reforma (Mexico), El Tiempo (Columbia), Mirador Nacional (Argentina) and many others. You can read the article and the list of media which published it here.

 

A number of other media outlets reported on the initiative begun by the Forum 2000 Foundation and its former delegates, which had a great impact in Venezuela itself. The Venezuelan television channel Globovisión reported on it, as well as various internet newspapers. Criticism of the arrest of Álvarez Paz also came from other noteworthy organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Foundation.

 

The open letter and the list of the former Forum 2000 delegates who signed it can be found here.