Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil has proposed, at the Belém Climate Summit in Brazil, a sovereign and just energy transition that replaces “predatory capitalism” with a system centered on cooperation, solidarity, and human beings.
During his address, the Venezuelan official argued that three decades after the warnings issued by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1992, humanity no longer faces a future threat, but rather a “present-day environmental collapse” that demonstrates the failure of the international system.
Gil directly attributed the cause of climate disasters, such as melting ice, desertification, forest fires, and hurricanes, to a “savage capitalist model” and a “voracious, oil-hungry imperialism.”
The diplomat asserted that oil continues to be the lifeblood of capitalism, which is why it is defended “with weapons, sanctions, and blockades.” As an example, the diplomat pointed out that “the deadliest power” does not send aid to the Caribbean Sea to repair climate damage, but rather to “threaten, besiege, and plunder the natural resources” of sovereign nations like Venezuela.
#LIVE | Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil stated that: “This is not a transition to sustainability, but rather to a new form of domination.” A transition that concentrates control of technology and excludes countries of the Global South” pic.twitter.com/qlNBPEpbPM / — teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv)
The Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs described the energy transition promoted by the West as a “farce” designed for a new form of domination, arguing that this model concentrates technology, excludes the Global South, and, paradoxically, increases the consumption of fossil fuels, while also imposing coercive measures on countries that do not submit to this system of dependency.
Additionally, he pointed out that integration initiatives such as Petrocaribe were attacked precisely because they represent a model of solidarity and sovereignty. Furthermore, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister emphasized that multilateral environmental policy has failed; since the 1972 Stockholm Conference, declarations and unfulfilled promises have multiplied, resulting in a world with greater poverty, inequality, and wars.
“While documents multiply, commitments dwindle.” “They fail to comply. Today we have a world with more poverty, more inequality, more war, and a greater concentration of power,” he emphasized.
Venezuela’s top diplomat recalled the legacy of the liberator Simón Bolívar, who two centuries ago promulgated the Chuquisaca Decree to protect natural resources, anticipating the principle of environmental sovereignty: “That legacy guides us. Protecting nature is not a symbolic gesture; it is a patriotic and moral duty.”
He also denounced the actions of transnational corporations that operate as parallel powers, violating international law with impunity. He cited the case of ExxonMobil, accused of operating illegally in an undelimited sea to exploit resources that do not belong to it, an act of plunder that threatens the stability of the region.
The South American nation’s call to the world is to “join efforts to decolonize the economy, technology, and energy.” In this sense, the Venezuelan representative emphasized the importance of South-South cooperation and multilateralism not subordinated to corporate power, as demonstrated by the aid provided to Cuba and Jamaica through the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).
Finally, Gil concluded his remarks by quoting Commander Hugo Chávez at the 2009 Copenhagen Summit: “Let us be capable of making this earth not the tomb of humanity. Let us make this earth a heaven (…) of peace and brotherhood for all humanity.”
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
