KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Cuba has called on the international community to come together to prevent any aggression against the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement released by the Cuban embassy in Malaysia here today, the Caribbean island nation also called on the governments and the peoples of the world to defend peace in Venezuela.
The statement said that an important question arising from the situation in Venezuela today is whether the legitimacy of a government emanates from the express and sovereign will of its people or from the recognition of foreign powers.
“The sovereignty and dignity of Latin America and the Caribbean and the peoples of the South are decided today in Venezuela. The survival of the norms of International Law and the Charter of the United Nations are also decided,”the statement said, adding that the Cuban government was denouncing the recent escalation of pressure and actions of foreign powers to use “humanitarian” grounds as a pretext for military intervention.
“In this regard…similar behaviours and similar pretexts were (used) in the prelude to the wars launched against Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, at the price of immense losses of human lives and enormous suffering,” the statement said.
The current crisis in Venezuela escalated after Maduro’s inauguration as president for a second six-year term on Jan 10, following which on Jan 23, the National Assembly President Juan Guaido at an opposition rally on the streets of Caracas proclaimed himself as interim president. This move was later recognised by the United States and several other countries.
However, major powers Russia and China and many other countries are backing Maduro as the legitimate president of the Latin American country of some 30 million people.
— NNN-BERNAMA
