US illegally bombs civilian and military targets in Venezuela and kidnaps President Maduro, Take action!

As we start the New Year, Latin America finds itself once again the target of US aggression and hostility happening with intense speed and ferocity.  

The Trump administration’s foreign policy is explained  in a ‘National Security Strategy’ document that outlines how the US plans to remain the ‘strongest, richest, most powerful and successful country in the world for decades to come’ led by the ‘President of Peace’.

The rest of the world – the Trump administration hopes – will be shaped in a way that is subservient to this goal starting with Latin  America and the Caribbean, the US sphere of influence.

The US is seeking to achieve this through military might, clandestine operations, economic strangulation, and psychological and propaganda warfare. The Trump administration will use any means to achieve its goals however illegal, murky, or reprehensible they may be.

Venezuela is clearly first in line, but the sovereignty of every state in the region which fails to dance to Trump’s tune is under threat.
 
Since the beginning of September the US has assembled a vast military armada in the Caribbean threatening Venezuela, killed 115 people through bombing alleged drug boats without providing evidence that they were carrying drugs, stolen two ships carrying Venezuelan oil, and bombed one of Venezuela’s ports.

On 3 January this escalated further with the US bombing of civilian and military targets in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira and the kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. President Trump stated that they will both be indicted on alleged drug trafficking charges in a New York Court. 

All these actions are violations of the UN Charter, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UN Human Rights Convention and international law.

UN institutions, human rights organisations, the Vatican, the UN Secretary- General, international lawyers, Democrat members of Congress and Latin American and other countries around the world have denounced the illegal actions of the US.

In Venezuela Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as President and a state of emergency has been declared. The Government issued a statement with an urgent call for international solidarity, and demanding the immediate return of President Maduro and Cilia Flores to Venezuela.

In the meantime President Trump has declared that the US will take over the running of Venezuela on an interim basis and US corporations will step in to exploit oil resources.

On 3 January Nicaragua’s Co-Foreign Minister Valdrack Jaentschke represented Nicaragua at an extraordinary meeting of the Community of Latin America and Caribbean states (CELAC) called by President Petro of Colombia.

In his statement on behalf of Nicaragua, Jaentschke called on CELAC to demand respect for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in line with international law and the governing principles of the UN charter. This includes the sovereign equality of states, self determination, territorial integrity and non interference in the internal affairs of member states.

Nicaragua’s statement concluded: ‘Peace has been deeply wounded, we reiterate the importance of preserving the region as a Zone of Peace and development…and the aspiration of our peoples to build a fairer, more equitable world based on solidarity. We join Venezuela’s call for truth and justice and the immediate release of President Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.’

The potential implications of the Trump administration’s actions for Cuba, (which has been in US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s sights for longer than Venezuela), and for heavily-sanctioned Nicaragua, are huge. Trump has also been making similar threats against the Petro government in Colombia, calling openly for regime change, and has also issued threats against Mexico.

 In this extremely dangerous period, NSCAG will continue to stand in solidarity with all progressive governments in Latin America and we remain steadfast in our denunciation of all forms of intervention that violate the national sovereignty of the countries concerned and constitute major threats to peace and stability in the region.

Click here for a statement by the Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition