Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and "criminals" protected by the United States government of "intellectual" responsibility for the death of the Chavista legislator Robert Serra and his partner.
"The masterminds of the murder are, I am sure, safely out of the country," said Maduro during Serra's funeral. "The information that I manage points to Colombia and the gang of criminals who former President Álvaro Uribe has always led."
Maduro also blamed the U.S. government.
"The information points to Miami and the gang of criminals that is protected by the United States government and has been linked to the murder of brave and honorable men," he added.
On Tuesday, members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) of the National Assembly approved a text that seeks to condemn the "intrusion" of paramilitaries in the country and external actors in national politics, specifically by former president Uribe, and will request the executive to declare him as persona non grata.
In response, Uribe called the Venezuelan government a "bully dictatorship" and criticized the silence President Juan Manuel Santos, who he said "supports Maduro for the Security Council and the dictator uses the situation to accuse me of murder of a legislator," Uribe wrote on his Twitter account.
Serra, 27, a member of the National Assembly for the Socialist Party (PSUV), and his partner Maria Herrera were found dead in their home last week. Both were killed by numerous stabbings. Serra had more than 40 stab wounds in his chest, according to reports.
Four years before, Serra had become the youngest member of the National Assembly when he won his seat at the age of 23.
The authorities insist the murder was "a macabre assignment" and was planned to detail.
"I say it with serenity and security: fascism decided to kill Robert Serra when faced with the helplessness that we had stopped their violent plan," said Maduro. "It is a terrorist situation that they have been planning for a long time and we have not allowed it."
The chief executive said the security forces are close to apprehending the persons responsible for the murders.
According to United Nations figures, Venezuela has the second highest peacetime murder rate in the world after Honduras.
United Nations: Leopoldo Lopez should be freed
The United Nations adopted a resolution Wednesday decreeing the Venezuelan government should immediately release Leopoldo Lopez, the opposition leader who has been imprisoned for almost nine months in connection to the violent protests in Caracas in February.
The declaration was drafted after a thorough investigation that determined the political leader was detained arbitrarily and several civil, political and constitutional rights were violated.
The ruling was issued during the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the Human Rights Council of the UN in Geneva.
"The arrest of Mr. Leopoldo López is arbitrary (...) Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is to immediately release Mr. Leopoldo López," reads the statement.
The human rights group maintained that the state of Venezuela failed, as a subscriber, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights when Lopez was detained last February 18 and was not allowed the right to a legitimate defense, affecting his right to presumed innocence and subject him to prosecution for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of expression and protesting.
This resolution follows President Barack Obama's speech during a conference occurring parallel to the 69th General Assembly of the United Nations, when he called for Lopez's release.
"In Venezuela, Leopoldo López," Obama said, including the Venezuelan in a list of leaders imprisoned in Burundi, Egypt, China and Vietnam. "They deserve to be free and should be released."
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