Venezuela celebrated the decision adopted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on May 4, in relation to the so-called “Venezuela I” matter.
The ICC Preliminary Questions Chamber confirmed that “there are no victims of crimes against humanity” in Venezuela, since said crimes “have never occurred in the national territory,” reports a report. statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The letter, made public on the Twitter account of the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yvan Gil, details that the report of the ICC Victim Reparation and Participation Section only includes the opinions of “‘potential victims’, thus determining expressly that, up to now, there is no victim recognized as such” by the international court.
However, Foreign Minister Gil denounced the “claims to use the matter to turn the International Criminal Court into a political weapon against the Venezuelan institutionality”.
In addition, the head of Venezuelan diplomacy recalled that the people are the ones who have been the victims of blockades and economic aggressions since 2014, derived from the Unilateral Coercive Measures.
Here is the full statement:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela welcomes the decision adopted by the Preliminary Questions Chamber of the International Criminal Court on May 4, 2023, in relation to the so-called “Venezuela I” matter.
The aforementioned decision recognizes that the report of the Victim Reparation and Participation Section of the International Criminal Court only includes the opinions of “potential victims” thus expressly determining that, to date, there is no victim recognized as such by the International Criminal Court.
However, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces that the so-called “potential victims” and especially some of the organizations that represent them, may be being instrumentalized to turn the International Criminal Court into a political weapon against the democratic institutions of Venezuela.
With this pronouncement, the Preliminary Questions Chamber confirms what Venezuela has maintained since the beginning of the process before the ICC: There are no victims of crimes against humanity, since said crimes have never occurred in the national territory.
It is the people of Venezuela who have been the victim of blockades and economic aggressions since 2014, derived from the unilateral coercive measures adopted by the authorities of the United States of America, in clear violation of International Law.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ratifies, once again, that it will continue to make use of the actions and mechanisms provided for in the Rome Statute and International Law to defend the truth and ensure its rights as a Nation, in the face of this offensive used by the institutional framework of the International Criminal Court for purposes contrary to its nature and reason for being.
Caracas, May 8, 2023
