Statement in defense of Venezuela against US aggression
Since the Bolivarian Revolution came to power, and with greater emphasis over the last seven years, successive US governments have intensified a series of attacks, as a kind of collective punishmentThese aggressions against the Venezuelan people have been multifaceted: trade blockades and sanctions, financial blockades, assassination attempts and coups d'état, sabotage of strategic installations, media campaigns aimed at international discrediting, and the creation and funding of parallel power structures (such as a second President of the Republic, Supreme Court of Justice, and Attorney General). All of these have culminated in a fallacious and exaggerated discourse accusing the Venezuelan government of human rights violations, corruption, and the absence of democracy. This has caused terrible damage to almost all social and economic indicators, ultimately diminishing the population's quality of life and violating their right to full development and freedom of association.
On March 26, 2020, the United States Attorney General announced formal charges against the legitimate president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and a group of high-ranking officials in his government, placing bounties on their heads and invoking an extravagant and questionable extraterritorial application of the justice system. He used the pretext of terrorism and drug trafficking offenses against them, without presenting any concrete evidence or proof. Simultaneously, on March 31, 2020, the Secretary of State presented a proposal for a “democratic transition” that envisioned Maduro's resignation and the formation of a unity government to guide the country until new elections. The proposal included the possibility of lifting the sanctions imposed on Venezuela, which was immediately rejected by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, which asserted that Venezuela is a “free, sovereign, independent, and democratic country that does not accept, nor will it ever accept, any tutelage from any foreign government.” The American offer package came with the mobilization of a naval military force to the Caribbean, being “Ordered the largest US military deployment to our region in 30 years, with the aim of threatening Venezuela and dragging our region into a costly, bloody, and protracted war.”, as denounced by President Maduro himself in an open letter to the American people, dated April 5, 2020.
Given that this is an election year in the United States, and anticipating the enormous social and economic consequences that the Covid-19 pandemic will have on the already weakened American economy, President Trump intends to take advantage of the world's focus on controlling it to implement, without much resistance, his long-standing plan to seize the vast oil and geostrategic resources offered by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. At the same time, he hopes to use this "defensive" attack as a smokescreen to distract his fellow citizens from his own missteps in the fight against the pandemic, perhaps hoping to garner popular support to confront the "common external enemy" and improve his standing in the polls.
The Working Group Legal Critique and Sociopolitical Conflicts We emphatically reject these actions, which reveal the most decadent—and dangerous—face any empire has ever displayed, attempting to impose an arbitrary international order on the world through its military might, thus significantly weakening the stability and the promising future we aspire to in Our America. We urge all of public opinion, and especially its active forces, to remain vigilant and make a tremendous educational effort to counter the monumental campaign of lies and distortion against Venezuela, its people, and the government they freely elected. It is essential to launch a campaign demanding that their respective governments not support belligerent adventures that would inexorably affect the daily lives of ALL inhabitants of the region, including those in the Caribbean, whose impact would be imminent due to their proximity and extreme vulnerability.
El Bolivarian model It has sought to be a counter-hegemonic alternative to transnational interests, aspiring to the construction of a united and prosperous Greater Homeland, as envisioned by its Liberator Simón Bolívar; it has defended its independence and sovereignty at a very high price, committed to a peaceful, multipolar world order. Faced with this unwavering stance, the United States considers it “a bad example” and has been mercilessly implementing hundreds of Unilateral Coercive Measures (UCMs), misnamed sanctions, What do they seek compel, forcing a state (and its people) to do what it does not want to do voluntarily through force. It prevents Venezuela from using its resources to buy food and medicine, expressly violating international law; this is what the government has complained about before the International Criminal Court.
Sanctions are a war by another name. This war is presented as collective punishment that causes suffering primarily against the civilian population, contrary to Article 24 of the Charter of the United Nations. Its true objective is to bring about a change in the economic and political model, a change of regime, harming the country's development projects and then blaming it on a "failed socialist model." For this reason, we reject them and demand the return of the resources and assets illegally held in other countries, which could be used to more effectively address the pandemic in this current situation.
Venezuela was the first Latin American country to impose flight and land border restrictions to contain Covid-19, and a general quarantine that has been successfully observed on a voluntary basis. Its government has managed health policies effectively despite internal weaknesses, many stemming from the blockade and economic warfare imposed upon it. Through a civic-military alliance, it has launched a series of successful programs to protect employment, housing, and food security, safeguarding a population that remains organized and morally upright, despite the unjust, immoral, and illegal suffering caused by the sanctions.
Simón Bolívar was not wrong when he said: The United States seems destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of freedom.For decades we have witnessed the atrocities of its various governments, of which the current one seems to have reached a sum Racist and demented supremacist ideology. All citizens of the world must prevent the trigger of a conflict with global repercussions. Today, more than ever, ALL of humanity must resist this. pandemic From greed, rise up against the forces that profit from social inequality and vaccinate ourselves with the best antidote to save us: solidarity with just causes such as, undoubtedly, the Venezuelan one.
8 2020 of April
Workgroup
Legal Critique and Sociopolitical Conflictss
This statement expresses the position of the Working Group on Legal Critique and Sociopolitical Conflicts and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
