At the extraordinary meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to discuss the United States military action in Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro last Saturday (3), Brazil’s ambassador to the entity, Benoni Belli, stated that the current situation is serious and evokes times considered outdated but which are once again plaguing Latin America and the Caribbean.
“The bombings on the territory of Venezuela and the kidnapping of its president cross an unacceptable line. These acts represent a very serious affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and threaten the international community with an extremely dangerous precedent”, said the Brazilian representative to the OAS this Tuesday (6).
According to the diplomat, military aggression leads to a world in which the law of the strongest prevails over multilateralism. “We cannot accept the argument that the ends justify the means. This reasoning lacks legitimacy and opens up the possibility of giving the strongest the right to define what is fair or unfair, what is right or wrong, to ignore national sovereignties dictating the decisions that the weakest must take. International sovereignty supported by international law and multilateral institutions is fundamental for people to be able to exercise their self-determination”, stated Belli.
At an emergency meeting of the Security Council at the United Nations (UN), this Monday (5), Brazilian ambassador Sérgio Danese also said that it is not possible to accept the argument that the ends justify the means in the armed intervention of the United States in Venezuela.
American soldiers forcibly removed Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Venezuelan territory, in an action that killed members of the president’s security forces and caused explosions in Caracas, the country’s capital. Maduro was taken to New York and, according to the United States government, will face charges in the country for an alleged connection with international drug trafficking.
The couple was taken on Monday to the Federal Courtin New York, for a custody hearing in North American justice. Maduro said be innocent and denied accusations of involvement in narco-terrorism, international drug trafficking and use of heavy weapons. Maduro described himself as a “prisoner of war” and a “decent man”. The couple is being held in a federal prison in the Brooklyn neighborhood, also in New York.
