The Venezuelan government denounced on Saturday the theft and hijacking of a private vessel carrying Venezuelan oil and the forced disappearance of its crew, actions perpetrated by U.S. military personnel in international waters.
The message issued by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez describes the U.S. military action as a “serious act of piracy.” This statement comes amid the multifaceted aggression that the United States is carrying out against Venezuela with the aim of seizing its crude oil and oil reserves, as well as other strategic resources belonging to the South American nation.
The official statement specifies that this incident “constitutes the flagrant commission of the crime stipulated in Article 3 of the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation.” Furthermore, it considers it a “gross violation of Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations, Article 2 of the Geneva Convention on the High Seas, and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States, among other applicable norms of international law.”
Venezuela emphasizes that “the colonialist model that the United States government seeks to impose with these types of practices will fail and will be defeated by the Venezuelan people.” The Bolivarian nation reaffirms its commitment to its own development, assuring that “Venezuela will continue its economic growth, based on its 14 economic engines and the independent and sovereign development of its hydrocarbon industry.”
Finally, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirms that “these acts will not go unpunished and will take all appropriate actions, including filing complaints with the United Nations Security Council, other multilateral organizations, and the governments of the world.” The country emphasizes that “international law will prevail and those responsible for these grave acts will answer to justice and history for their criminal conduct.”
[ SOURCE: teleSUR and NEWS AGENCIES ]
