UPDATE 1-UN rights boss decries Venezuela crackdown; says sanctions may worsen crisis

mVenezuelan security forces, backed by pro-government militias, have quashed peaceful protests with excessive use of force, killings and torture, the United Nations human rights chief said on Wednesday.

Michelle Bachelet, addressing the Human Rights Council, cited allegations that the National Police’s Special Actions Force (FAES) had executed 37 people in January in Caracas in illegal house raids in poor areas supporting the opposition. However, the latest U.S. sanctions on financial transfers linked to the sale of Venezuelan oil in the United States "may contribute to aggravating the economic crisis", said Bachelet, a former president of Chile.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration had held in reserve what he called "the toughest of sanctions" to try to cut off revenues to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In January, Trump imposed sanctions on state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela PDVSA, the stiffest economic measure against Maduro and Venezuela to date. The United States is among countries that have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate head of state.

Maduro, a socialist who says he is the victim of an attempted U.S.-led coup, retains the support of the armed forces and control of state functions. Venezuelan authorities had failed to acknowledge the extent and severity of the health and food crisis that has driven more than 3 million people to flee abroad since 2015, and had adopted "insufficient" measures, Bachelet said.

She voiced concern at "increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and of the press", saying Venezuelan authorities had prosecuted journalists, opposition leaders and critics unfairly. "Divisions are exacerbating an already critical situation," she said, calling for a political solution. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Tom Miles)