Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Venezuelan counterpart on the release of (a) Guillermo Zarraga, (b) Emirlendris Benítez, (c) Gabriel Blanco, (d) Maria Auxiliadora Delgado, (e) Juan Carlos Marufo, (f) Dario Estrada and (g) Robert Franco.

The UK continues to call for the unconditional release of all those unjustly detained in Venezuela. We regularly raise the human rights situation in Venezuela at the UN Human Rights Council, and our Embassy in Caracas supports local non-governmental organisations working on human rights. We continue to encourage the implementation of the Venezuelan-led political agreement reached on 17 October in Barbados, including the release of political prisoners. The regime's practice of regularly targeting those engaged in human rights work stands in the way of democracy and a resolution to Venezuela's humanitarian crisis. Human rights violations must stop.