Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Demonstrations in Swiss cities against Maduro

protestors
Around 100 demonstrators gathered in front of the Palais Wilson in Geneva on Saturday demanding President Maduro allow humanitarian convoys into Venezuela. Keystone

Several hundred people demonstrated in three Swiss cities on Saturday, demanding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro allow humanitarian aid into the country.

In Geneva, around 80 people gathered in front of the Palais Wilson – the seat of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. According to the Geneva Police, the demonstrators, mainly Venezuelan nationals, denounced President Nicolas Maduro’s regime, which has been blocking much-needed food and medical supplies from entering the country.

“Every person here knows a political prisoner or has at least one relative [in Venezuela] suffering because of a lack of medicines,” explained Venezuelan national Maria Alejandra Aristeguieta to news agency Keystone-SDA. Aristeguieta said that she has recently been appointed by the opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido as diplomatic representative to Switzerland and the United Nations Office in Geneva.

Displaying posters in French, English and Spanish, the demonstrators also demanded an end to Maduro’s “illegal government”, the establishment of a transitional government and free elections. Similar demonstrations took place on Saturday in Zurich and Basel. In Zurich, the rally was attended by nearly 200 people.

More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR