Mérida, July 27, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government has formally announced the country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The decision follows long-running tensions between Caracas and the Hague-based court amid a US-led campaign to dismantle the ICC.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia announced the “firm and irrevocable decision” to denounce the Rome Statute via X on Friday. He added that Acting President Delcy Rodríguez had instructed that Venezuela’s “definitive withdrawal” from the ICC be communicated to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Caracas justified its decision by accusing the court of holding a “geographical bias” that has led the ICC to concentrate most of its efforts on Latin American and African nations.

“This bias is not a simple procedural coincidence, but rather the reflection of an institution that has put its mechanisms at the service of interests unrelated to justice and the people it claims to protect.” Plasencia wrote. “We reiterate our commitment to a genuinely equitable justice system that respects the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples.”

Rodríguez reiterated the accusations of politicization during a public event on Friday.

“The ICC has been instrumentalized to attack the Venezuelan State, and we do not believe in that type of organization or institution,” she asserted. “We believe in a relationship based on respect for international law.”

The formal withdrawal follows a December 2025 parliamentary decision to repeal Venezuela’s adhesion to the Rome Statute. At the time, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez defended the move as an act of solidarity with Palestine, accusing the ICC of inaction regarding Israel’s “genocide” and of subservience to “US imperialism.”

The ICC expressed regret over Venezuela’s decision, calling the departure a “setback for international justice.” However, the court warned that Caracas retains obligations going forward.

Under Article 127 of the Rome Statute, the withdrawal will officially take effect one year after the formal notification. In addition, Venezuela remains legally bound to cooperate with all investigations that commenced before it exited the treaty.

The Hague-based tribunal is currently running the so-called Venezuela I case, investigating accusations of serious human rights violations allegedly committed by Venezuelan security forces during the 2017 violent anti-government protests.

The ICC formally launched the probe in 2021 under lead prosecutor Karim Khan. The Nicolás Maduro government decried the process as “persecution” and “lawfare” against Venezuela. However, it simultaneously sought to cooperate with the investigation and allowed Khan to open an office in the country.

Venezuelan officials, including former Attorney General Tarek William Saab, repeatedly pointed to the country’s own efforts to investigate and punish human rights abuses by state officials and argued that the probe should be suspended under the Rome Statute’s complementarity principle.

Nevertheless, Khan decided to proceed and the investigation remains active. The ICC prosecution closed its Caracas office in December 2025, claiming a lack of cooperation from the Maduro government.

In contrast, the Venezuela II case, brought by the Venezuelan government itself in 2020 to denounce US-led unilateral coercive measures against the country as crimes against humanity, was shuttered by the ICC at the end of the preliminary examination last March. Prosecutors claimed they found no “reasonable basis” to advance in the investigation.

Venezuela’s disengagement from the Hague-based tribunal was swiftly praised by the Trump administration.

The US State Department issued a communiqué on Saturday welcoming the withdrawal and describing the ICC as “corrupt and worthless.”

“The US welcomes the new Venezuelan government’s partnership on American-led efforts to dismantle the corrupt and worthless ICC,” the statement read. Washington went on to accuse the court of “blatant overreach, political bias and selective enforcement.”

The State Department criticized the ICC’s “investigation” against Maduro, instead pointing to the US Justice Department’s ongoing prosecution of the Venezuelan president after kidnapping him and First Lady Cilia Flores on January 3. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to charges including drug trafficking conspiracy.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the efforts of brave American service members, Maduro is now facing justice in US court for crimes he has committed,” the communiqué went on to claim. Venezuelan authorities have not commented on the White House’s statement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spearheaded a campaign against the ICC and has explicitly called on member states to abandon the Rome Statute. The US has been escalating pressure on the tribunal for months, levying sanctions and visa restrictions against its judges and prosecutors in retaliation for the court’s issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

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