Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro sent a letter on Monday to the heads of state of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as to the 194 nations that make up the United Nations General Assembly. The document, read by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil from the Yellow House in Caracas, warns of an escalation of aggression by the US government that threatens to destabilize the security of the entire region and the international legal order.
The letter’s central complaint focuses on the US military’s so-called “Operation Southern Spear,” a naval and air deployment that includes the presence of nuclear submarines off the coast of Venezuela, under the pretext of combating drug trafficking. The Venezuelan government denounces this operation as an unprecedented act of intimidation in the region.
In this regard, the letter sent by the Venezuelan head of state maintains that this military buildup represents a direct threat of the use of force, an action prohibited by the Charter of the United Nations. It also emphasizes that these operations violate regional agreements that declare the Caribbean a Zone of Peace and a territory free of nuclear weapons.
The Venezuelan president enumerated a series of US military actions that occurred between September and December of this year, counting 28 armed attacks in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific against civilian boats, which have resulted in 104 extrajudicial executions, “many of them in a shipwreck condition.”
According to the Venezuelan leader, these events constitute a violation of the right to life, protected under Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
He also stated that these actions violate the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which mandate the protection of civilians, the wounded and shipwrecked persons at sea. President Maduro pointed out that Additional Protocol I of 1977 establishes an absolute distinction between the civilian population and combatants, a rule that has been ignored in recent US operations in the region.
The Venezuelan president emphasized that these attacks are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a systematic practice of lethal use of force. He denounced these operations as being carried out outside the framework of international law and even violating the US constitution.
President Maduro emphasized that these actions have generated intense internal debate in the US, where various sectors of Congress and public opinion have expressed their rejection. According to the document, there is widespread condemnation within US institutions and society of these tactics of armed intervention.
Second US Act of Piracy Condemned by Venezuela as Trinidad’s PM Stirs Internal Crisis
Additionally, the president condemned the recent hijacking of two ships at sea carrying 4 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil as state piracy. The president denounced these actions as illegal acts of violence and plunder against the ships and their cargo.
The letter warns that the announced absolute naval blockade against energy transport not only directly affects Venezuela’s sovereignty but will also have global repercussions. It points out that these measures will negatively impact energy supplies and increase instability in international markets, primarily harming the world’s most vulnerable economies.
Lastly, the Venezuelan president called for the activation of multilateral mechanisms to investigate and sanction the actions of the US, reaffirming that Venezuela is prepared to defend its territory while maintaining its firm commitment to dialogue and peace.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DZ
From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.