<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Secretary General of Podemos and Deputy Spokesperson for the Mixed Parliamentary Group, Ione Belarra, has called on the Government to publicly reject “any threat or unilateral use of force by the United States against Venezuela and Colombia” and demand “the immediate cessation of US military operations in the Caribbean and the Pacific.”</strong></h4> In a non-binding motion registered on November 25 for debate in the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies, Podemos points out that “the United States Government, led by President Donald Trump, has been intensifying its interventionist policy in Latin America and the Caribbean for months.” “Under the pretext of a supposed fight against drugs, the US Administration has launched a diplomatic, political, economic, and military offensive against Venezuela and Colombia that violates fundamental principles of international law, especially those contained in the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American States, and various resolutions of the UN General Assembly,” it continues. In this context, the US has deployed a naval strike group in the Caribbean Sea since last August, comprised of several warships, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, surveillance drones, and thousands of military personnel. “This operation lacks any mandate, legal basis, or proportionality. No evidence has been presented to support the accusations made by US authorities, nor does it have authorization from the UN Security Council, thus violating Article 2.4 of the UN Charter,” the motion warns. These maneuvers “far exceed the limits of anti-drug cooperation established within multilateral frameworks and generate a real risk of direct military intervention with catastrophic consequences for regional peace and stability,” it continues. “Furthermore, this offensive has triggered an illegal campaign of attacks against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, including dozens of extrajudicial killings of citizens—civilians—from several countries,” Podemos denounces. “Far from being a counter-narcotics operation, the actions of the US seek to create the conditions for a military intervention in Venezuela, force a regime change, and gain control over its strategic resources, particularly oil,” Belarra asserts. Furthermore, Podemos denounces that “after Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused to allow Colombia—which shares a 2,219 km border with Venezuela—to be used as a platform for aggression, Washington has extended its offensive against Colombia through openly coercive measures” that “violate UN Resolution 2131 on the inadmissibility of intervention in the internal affairs of states, as well as the principle of sovereign equality enshrined in Article 2 of the UN Charter.” “In this context,” Belarra warns, “neither Spain nor the European Union can afford to look the other way.” “Our country is a historical actor in Latin America and the Caribbean, with deep political, economic, cultural, and friendly ties between our peoples. Furthermore, Spain is a key member of the EU, a driving force behind the EU-CELAC bi-regional dialogue, and a defender of multilateralism and international law. The current crisis directly affects our partners, our sister nations, and the democratic, rules-based international order that Spain upholds,” the statement adds. For all these reasons, the non-binding resolution presented by Podemos urges the Government to “publicly reject any threat or unilateral use of force by the US against Venezuela and Colombia, and to demand the immediate cessation of US military operations in the Caribbean and the Pacific.” It also urges Pedro Sánchez's government to "reaffirm Spain's commitment to the principles of sovereignty, equality between states and non-intervention", to "promote a common position of the European Union that rejects any threat or unilateral use of force by the US against Venezuela and Colombia" and to "promote urgent consultations within the EU-CELAC framework to prevent a possible US military intervention in the region and guarantee regional peace and stability".
