Versión Español
Given the possibility that the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro prevents the entry of humanitarian aid, the interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, said that a foreign military intervention would be legal when it comes to securing humanitarian aid.
“If an international force were required to restore the constitutional order and protect the lives of our citizens, there is the legislative authority to approve such an action by the National Assembly (Article 187 of the Constitution of the Republic of Venezuela),” the president said in an interview with El País newspaper in Uruguay.
“The Responsibility to Protect doctrine adopted by the UN is clear, and gives all countries the responsibility to act in the interest of the protection of human life in any territory, in a scenario where considerable human loss of life is foreseeable. It is incumbent upon the international community, and actors such as Colombia, Brazil, and the United States, to define the scenario of prolonged crisis and humanitarian aid, and we will see whether such aid is ineffective or insufficient, and adopt a position accordingly,” he said.
The Statute of Rome, a provision of the International Criminal Court, delineates what it considers to be crimes against humanity. Officials of the Maduro regime meet all the requirements to be tried in The Hague.
Extermination: intentional imposition of living conditions, including deprivation of access to food or medicine, aimed at causing the destruction of part of a population.
As pointed out by Guaidó, in Venezuela not only are there more than 300,000 patients who are about to lose their lives, but also recently 12 children died from diarrhea and vomiting; common medical conditions that only became deadly after the dire shortage of medical supplies.
To pave the way for a possible foreign intervention that hastens the exit of Maduro and the recovery of democracy in the country, the National Assembly of Venezuela has approved for the first time the statute that governs “the transition to democracy.”
Among the most relevant points is that the provisional government may request the help of the international community in order to restore state sovereignty in the territory of the Republic of Venezuela, with the authorization of the National Assembly. This would give the “green light” to a foreign intervention.
Faced with the violation of human rights and the usurpation of powers by Maduro, all options are on the table, from a negotiation of “transitional amnesty” to a foreign military intervention. This is because the dictatorial regime has become a security threat for the region.
On Wednesday, February 6, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that the Trump government has the obligation to eliminate the risk posed by terrorist cells in Venezuela.
“People do not recognize that Hezbollah has active cells; the Iranians are impacting the people of Venezuela and all of South America. We have an obligation to eliminate that risk for the United States,” he said.
After having stolen the presidential elections in Venezuela, Maduro was declared illegitimate, and before that, as established by the Constitution, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, assumed the powers of the executive branch. Guaidó is the legitimate interim president of Venezuela and is already recognized as such by more than fifty countries.
The biggest indication that Maduro’s tyranny is about to run its course is the historic determination of the United States to end the dictatorship.
We must remember the words of Trump after assuming the presidency of the United States: he promised that he would do everything in his power to make Venezuela “free.”
It is Trump who has managed to unite the countries of the region and the world with one voice against the dictatorship in Venezuela. He was the one who issued sanctions that have hampered the Maduro regime’s finances. And it was during his administration that Tareck El Aissami and Diosdado Cabello were categorized as drug traffickers and terrorists.
In just one week, Trump not only recognized Guaidó as president of Venezuela, but blocked Maduro’s access to foreign bank accounts, and announced USD $20 million in humanitarian aid. He has also not shied away from posing the possibility of sending military forces to Colombia.
In addition to the aggressive moves made by the United States, there is the determination of the neighboring countries of Venezuela, such as Brazil and Colombia, to overthrow Maduro. Both nations have agreed to work together to press forward, and achieve the fall of the dictatorship.
It remains to be seen what decisions the National Assembly of Venezuela could take when it comes to securing international support to restore democracy to the South American country.
It should be noted that Guaidó spoke with the Uruguayan newspaper at precisely the time when Uruguay and Mexico created the “Montevideo mechanism” to counteract the Lima Group and advocate for non-intervention in Venezuela. With this mechanism, the leftist governments of these two countries are looking to give Maduro the space to maneuver in order to stay in power.
