Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister, Nicolás Maduro confronts Washington at the XVIII OAS General Assembly

June 3, 2008 At the XVIII OAS General Assembly

The Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister, Nicolás Maduro, demanded respect from Washington, which is leading a plan to fill Latin America with violence and compile a criminal record against President Hugo Chávez. He also mentioned that the unipolar era is expiring.

“We condemn terrorism and formally urge once again that terrorist Luis Posada Carriles be captured because he is a fugitive who committed terrorist crimes against a civilian airplane in 1976,” explained the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolás Maduro during his speech at the 38th OAS General Assembly, held in Medellin, Colombia.

This high-level meeting, held between June 1 and June 3, gathered foreign affairs ministers and delegations from 34 countries of the region to tackle its main topic, “Youth and Democratic Values”, as well as other issues regarding the current regional policy.

“We aspire that sooner or later the U.S. elites do some reflection, rectify and understand the new era and history that have been opened in the continent,” he said.

Maduro pointed out that “this terrorist (Posada Carriles), who is free and protected by the U.S. government in Florida, recently enjoyed a public dinner in honor of his ‘heroism’ as he killed innocent men and women in Central America, the Caribbean and South America.”

The Venezuelan official stressed that “it’s a good opportunity for the U.S. government to fight terrorism, to immediately capture the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and hand him over to the Venezuelan justice, of which he is a fugitive as he blew up a Cubana de Aviación airplane in October 1976.”

Finally, he urged the OAS “to oversee the U.S. behavior as it protects a well-known guilty, self-confessed, terrorist who has committed crimes against our country.”

U.S. Plan to violate Latin America

During his speech, Maduro assured that behind the accusations against Venezuela of its alleged links to the FARC, the U.S is leading a plan to fill Latin America with violence and compile a criminal record against President Hugo Chávez.

There is a political plan promoted by the White House “in order to fill the region with violence (…) Today, there’s an operation underway and we want to denounce it, and the direct perpetrator encouraging this operation is the government of the United States.”

The Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister mentioned the “abusing and rude” accusations made on June 2 by the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte, who said he was completely sure that Venezuela has become a “refuge” for the FARC.

According to the Venezuelan Minister, “it’s an operation to fill our region with violence, to divide our peoples. Behind the irresponsible and abusing accusations made by Negroponte that the FARC have sought refuge in Venezuela, there’s a political operation in order to compile a criminal record against the legitimate and democratic President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and our country,” he denounced.

End of a Unipolar Era

According to Maduro, a multipolar world “must have its expression within a framework of relations based on respect, equality.”

“The unipolar era in our region is coming to its end; that unipolar era in the world is reaching to its last time,” he pointed out.

“New democratic, progressive, sovereign leaderships have emerged; these leaderships must rethink the construction of a new historic era, a new framework of relations in the Organization of American States,” said the Venezuelan official.

Maduro also stressed that “it has been difficult enough in our region to find the path of cooperation, integration, union, brotherhood; it has been difficult enough in our region to get closer.”

That’s the reason why Maduro explained that the new political reality in the continent must be defended over any foreign meddling or violation to the norms, as United States’ violations perpetrated for the 60 years it has been an OAS member.

“Why our relations can not be marked by principles such as respect, cooperation, and brotherhood, and why is there a State or a government of an OAS member State that can mock all these norms?,” asked the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister.

The 38th OAS General Assembly resulted in the Declaration of Medellin, which reaffirms the OAS member States’ “commitment to foster among the youth of the Americas the values set forth in the OAS Charter and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, so as to strengthen their political, social, and economic participation in the framework of a democratic society.”

Telesur / MinCI

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