"This has no regional precedent," José Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch's Americas division, told a press conference in Miami on Thursday to promote the group's report on 'The Venezuelan Exodus,' which recommends region-wide legal protection for all Venezuelans.

At the insistence of the United States, members of the U.N. Security Council got a briefing on the situation in Nicaragua from the Organization of American States and a human rights activist. "You can't hear the suffering of the people and say okay, it's none of your business," said Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N..

Human Rights Watch issued a report recommending region-wide temporary legal protection for all Venezuelans, including work permits and suspension of deportation. It also recommended economic sanctions against key Venezuelan officials implicated in serious human rights abuses.

Mauricio Claver-Carone, a vocal critic of the Obama administration’s engagement with Cuba, is taking over as the National Security Council’s influential director for Latin America policy.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague “examining” evidence of abuses as campaign against Maduro government gathers momentum. Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Paraguay poised to join court action.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has registered the arrival of 23,000 Nicaraguans who have fled their country since April. However, upon arrival in San José, the capital of Costa Rica, they find that an appointment to request asylum can take months. In addition, there is no established mechanism to provide them with food or a roof over their head. Groups of Costa Ricans and Nicaraguan exiles with the help of some parishes distribute food in the La Merced Park and pay for accommodation for the new arrivals in shelters, hostels for families and safe houses where they live in cramped conditions.