Speech by Sacha Lorenti, representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia before the Security Council of the United Nations on 26 February 2019
Thank you very much, Mr President.
My delegation salutes the presidency for organizing this meeting and allowing us to participate in it.
We also welcome the presence among us of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza.
Mr. President
We will not tire of repeating that Latin America and the Caribbean is a zone of peace that has ratified its commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes in order to banish forever the use and threat of the use of force from our region, as well as strict compliance with its obligation not to intervene, directly or indirectly, in the affairs of any other State and to observe the principles of national sovereignty, equal rights and self-determination of peoples, within the framework of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.
The situation in Venezuela demands the attention of the Security Council, not because that country constitutes a threat to international peace and security, but because the actions that have been taken against Venezuela do constitute a very serious threat to peace and stability in my region.
Last weekend, an operation led by the government of the United States was deployed that sought to use “humanitarian aid” as a “Trojan horse” to achieve its political objective: regime change in Venezuela.
In spite of the ideological bombardment and the massive media campaign deployed around this “humanitarian aid delivery” operation, neither the United Nations, nor the International Red Cross, nor the Catholic Church have lent themselves to being instrumentalised. Because this supposed aid violates the principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality. Just today, according to media reports, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations said: “We are very clear about the principles of humanitarian aid. And in the case of Venezuela… yes, there is an attempt to politicize it”.
Mr. President,
The debate we are holding today is timely, especially when different U.S. government officials talk about the situation in Venezuela, repeating a slogan: “All options are on the table”.
We, and this Council, should pay close attention to those words and gauge their seriousness.
My region and the world have suffered from the tragic consequences when “all the options are on the table.
How many massacres must be considered in the countries of Latin America when all the options are on the table.
How many invasions such as those suffered by the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama or Haiti must be suffered when all the options are on the table.
We remember the Condor Plan, the School of the Americas, the forced disappearance of people, torture, murder when “all the options are on the table”.
The case of Iran Contras related to the war in Nicaragua comes to mind. In this case, let me read what the International Court of Justice ruling of 27 June 1986 states: “In the case of Iran Contras, there is no such thing as a “war on the table”:
“Decides that the United States of America, by training, arming, equipping, financing and supplying the Contra forces or by encouraging, supporting and otherwise assisting military and paramilitary activities in and against Nicaragua, has acted to the detriment of the Republic of Nicaragua, in breach of its obligation under customary international law not to intervene in the affairs of another State”.
“All options are on the table”. We are reminded of the Iran-Contras affair, the Monroe doctrine, the National Security doctrine, the doctrine of the internal enemy.
We remember the unconditional support for the dictators Somoza, Estrossner, Pinochet and Banzer, when all the options are on the table.
Allow me to digress, Mr President: as a result of this cause, the consequences of which we are still bearing, caravans of migrants and refugees fleeing from Central America are emerging.
Mr President,
The dramatic story that unfolds before our eyes is the re-enactment of many others. In this case, not only is the macabre script of interventionism and policies of regime change being repeated, but some of the most important actors in the aggressions against Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras or Iraq are the same people who have a leading role in this tragedy.
Mr. President,
It may be that we are being told that we are bringing to this Council matters from an obsolete past and that we are only motivated by unsurpassed resentment.
Let us talk about what happened in this century.
Does not the illegal aggression against Iraq based on lies persecute the conscience of humanity and of this Council? One million dead and the destabilization of that entire region for decades.
Have we so soon forgotten the 500,000 dead in Syria? A situation also caused by the policy of regime change.
Mr President,
From The United States, photographs of the murder of Maomar Kadafi have been shown via Twitter. A very revealing gesture of their intentions.
I would like to show you another photograph. The destruction of Libya. This is a subject that is regularly debated in this Council. A few questions about Libya:
How was humanitarian aid delivered?
Where are the billions of dollars of Libyan international reserves?
Who benefits from Libyan natural resources?
Is there peace, democracy and freedom in that beautiful country?
We don’t want Venezuela to have the same fate as Libya. We don’t want the Venezuelan people to suffer the same as the Libyan people.
What’s more, we don’t want South or Central America to suffer what the Sahel region suffers because of the policies implemented against Libya.
The Security Council has an obligation to prevent that from happening.
Mr. President,
Because of its history of organizing, financing coups d’état in my region, it is clear that the motivation is not Venezuela’s democracy, freedom, human rights or prosperity.
In addition to geopolitical control, to those who are not aligned with its designs, the real motivation for this onslaught is oil.
The invasion of Iraq was for the same reasons, the attack against Iran is for the same reasons. I am sure we are all aware that Venezuela has as many oil reserves as Iraq and Iran – combined.
Mr President,
It is true that, as the Charter says: “we are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. Therefore: not all options are on the table.
If the effort deployed to maintain this Security Council and this entire organization is of any value, then: Not all options are on the table.
If we support multilateralism rather than unilateral action; if we prefer international law over barbarism; if we defend peace rather than war: then not all options are on the table.
In that regard, we welcome the statement by the Lima group and several members of this Council specifically referring to “the use of peaceful and diplomatic means without the use of force”. However, the country that has made these threats has not yet ruled out the use of force.
Our options lie in the use of all diplomatic resources and the primacy of politics to resolve this critical situation.
Mr President,
If we really want to help the Venezuelan people, we must:
– Respect the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter.
– Lift all unilateral sanctions because they are contrary to international law.
– Depoliticization and demilitarization of humanitarian aid.
– Eradicate any possibility of a violent solution to this crisis.
– The promotion of a process of dialogue by and for Venezuelans.
Translation by Internationalist 360°
