The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) reiterated its demand for the immediate release of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a statement released on Wednesday, February 25.
The PSM also reiterated its demand to lift all unilateral sanctions against Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba, reminding the world that the fourth Geneva convention has termed such sanctions a form of “collective punishment”, the use of which is prohibited and a war crime.
US troops attacked the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and other areas in the country on January 3 and abducted President Maduro and Flores. Over a hundred people, including 32 Cubans, were killed in the “precision” operation carried out by US Special Forces. Maduro and Flores were transported to the US and presented in a federal court on charges of drug trafficking.
The PSM statement, signed by its chairperson Dr. Jeyakumar Devaraj called the US actions illegal and a violation of Venezuela’s national sovereignty. The attack was a demonstration of the long held contempt the US has towards the countries of the Global South who try to assert their independence, the statement says.
The party also demanded the US abandon its “gunboat diplomacy” and plans or threats to use military force against Cuba, Iran, and any other country, claiming that the national sovereignty of all countries must be respected and no force can be used against any other country without the authorization of the UN.
The statement coincides with the growing US military threats against Iran and an unprecedented blockade on Cuba imposed by the Donald Trump administration.
Read more: Iran condemns the US blockade of Cuba
The Trump administration has used economic blockades and sanctions to cripple these economies to incite popular uprisings against the governments there in order to justify its “regime change” campaigns.
Solidarity with Cuba
Oil shipments to Cuba were impeded by an order issued by Trump earlier this year which threatened additional sanctions against countries that sold oil to the Caribbean nation. Some parts of the order limiting oil going to Cuba may have been reversed under limited conditions, but Cuba has still not received any fuel shipments since December.
The UN has warned that the lack of oil supplies to Cuba is causing a massive humanitarian crisis affecting millions of Cubans. Most emergency services, such as health care, public transportation, and water supply are being disrupted or severely limited due to the lack of energy sources.
Similarly, before launching an attack to kidnap Maduro, the US imposed a complete fuel blockade on Venezuela in December and seized oil tankers leaving the country, and launched airstrikes targeting and killing people in small boats in the Caribbean since September. Those airstrikes on boats have continued to this day.
The US has used sanctions to disrupt the Iranian economy as well and used the popular unrest over economic grievances there to issue threats of war and regime change.
Other pretexts have been weaponized by US officials to target Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, even questioning the political and economic choices of their citizens. The US has also raised objections to those nations’ foreign policies, particularly their promotion of multilateralism over hegemonic rule of the US and its allies.
Calling the US approach to Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran neocolonialism, the PSM reiterated that all countries have the right to choose their own development path and the “principle of non-interference in the internal matters of sovereign countries must be upheld.”
Reflecting on the need to face neocolonialism, which is affecting global order and peace at the moment, the PSM underlined the need to build self sufficiency in third world countries as well as regional cooperation “so that we are not dependent on the US and European Union.”
Read more: Cuban government responds to US-manufactured fuel shortage: “We will defend Cuba”
Pointing out the susceptibility of the people, even in the Global South, to fall prey to the propaganda used by the hegemonic powers against countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, or Iran, the PSM emphasized the need to spread awareness through larger campaigns about the threats of neocolonialism, which is “an under-recognized reality of the 21st century.”
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