According to a report released on February 24 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a branch of the Organization of American States, there has been a steady erosion of human and civil rights in Venezuela under President Hugo Chavez. The 300-page report concludes:

"The Commission considers alarming the number of cases of extrajudicial executions; torture; forced disappearances; death threats; abuse of authority; and cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment meted out by agents of the Venezuelan State. Likewise, the homicides, kidnappings, use of hired gunmen, and rural area violence are all phenomena that frequently affect the security of citizens across the country."

As noted in a Washington Post editorial, the document reports that in 2008 there were 87 charges of torture, 134 allegations of arbitrary killings, and 33 cases of forced disappearance. Journalists and opposition members have been consistently targeted, and 173 trade union leaders and members were murdered in a 12-year period. The OAS document confirms the findings of the State Department's 2008 Human Rights Report on Venezuela.

Chavez has responded by calling the report "pure garbage", according to the Associated Press. "We will prepare to denounce the agreement by which Venezuela is a member of this nefarious Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and we will leave it. What for? It's not worth it, it's a mafia there," Chavez said.

On Monday Spanish National Court Judge Eloy Velasco accused Chavez of collaborating with the ETA, the Basque separatist group, to assassinate Colombian heads of state including Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, his predecessor Andrés Pastrana and other top Colombian officials.