The UN Security Council met on Monday in an emergency session to address the attack perpetrated on January 3 by the Donald Trump administration against Venezuela.
In his speech, Cuba's representative, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, stated: "The cowardly U.S. aggression against Venezuela is a criminal act, in violation of international law and the UN Charter, and constitutes a dangerous escalation of the war campaign waged for years by the United States against that sister nation."
He asserted that the operation "has no justification whatsoever, does not respond to any provocation, and has no legitimacy. It is based on the aberrant doctrine of peace through force and undermines the stability and peace that has characterized our region for years."
Soberón Guzmán emphasized that the real objectives of this operation are to seize the South American country's natural and energy resources. It is an imperialist and fascist aggression, he said, with pretensions of domination. It also seeks to intimidate and subjugate the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.
For his part, Venezuelan diplomat Samuel Moncada described it as an act "lacking any legal justification" and warned that if the bombing of his nation and the kidnapping of its constitutional president are not condemned, the credibility of international law and the authority of the Council itself will be called into question.
Venezuela urged the multilateral organization "to fully assume its responsibility and act in accordance with the mandate conferred upon it by the United Nations Charter." It also requested that the conclave demand that the U.S. government fully respect the immunities of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, as well as their immediate release and safe return.
It requested that the use of force against its country be condemned, that the principle of non-acquisition of territory or resources by force be reaffirmed, and that measures be taken aimed at de-escalation, the protection of the civilian population, and the restoration of international law. "We trust that this Security Council will rise to the occasion and choose the path of legality, collective responsibility, and peace," he insisted.
At the meeting, Mexico stressed that "it is up to sovereign peoples" to decide their own destiny. It also reiterated that Latin America and the Caribbean have forged themselves as a zone of peace, and therefore "the current violation of this fragile balance seriously jeopardizes the political stability and security of the region, as well as the well-being of our peoples."
For her part, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary A. DiCarlo spoke on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres and conveyed the organization's grave concern about the events. She noted that the information received about military operations in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira is cause for alarm, according to reports by Telesur.
Colombian Ambassador Leonor Zalabata remarked, "Venezuela deserves to live in peace, democracy, prosperity, and dignity. With a government sovereignly defined by no one other than the Venezuelan people themselves and their institutions," she said. She called for "maximum caution and restraint," as well as "de-escalating tensions and prioritizing dialogue and diplomatic channels."
"The banditry in relation to the Venezuelan leader, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban citizens, has become, in the eyes of many, a harbinger of a return to the era of anarchy and U.S. domination, chaos, and lawlessness that dozens of states in various regions of the world continue to suffer," said Russian diplomat Vasili Nebenzia.
He indicated that "there is and can be no justification for the crime cynically committed by the United States in Caracas."
He stressed that "the murmurs and attempts to evade principled judgments by those who, in other situations, would have vehemently demanded that others adhere to the UN Charter, seem especially hypocritical and inappropriate today. I hope they recognize this, abandon their double standards, and stop trying to justify such a flagrant act of aggression for fear of angering the global "policeman" of the United States, which is trying to resurface."
Without any shame, Mikel Waltz, the U.S. representative, declared before the UN that his country is not waging any war against Venezuela, but rather a "rigorous operation, facilitated by the U.S. Army, against two fugitives from justice," he shouted.
"As Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio has said, there is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying the country. This was a law enforcement operation," he said cynically.
