UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The Venezuelan leader said late last month he planned to launch legal action against the newly imposed anti-Venezuela sanctions US President Barack Obama issued on March 9.
"Venezuela faces ongoing harassment and a manipulation of the issue of human rights. It is used in the West to isolate our country and to protect those who are seeking to destroy the human rights system and democracy that our country has built over the last 17 years," Maduro said.
Maduro delivered his speech against the backdrop of demonstrations outside the UN headquarters in New York.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Hussein welcomed the opportunity to hear from the Venezuelan leader ahead of Maduro's speech and expressed a number of concerns he hoped Caracas would address.
Relations between Washington and Caracas deteriorated over alleged human rights violations during the February 2014 protests in the Venezuelan capital against the Maduro government.
