YouSaid · the spoken record

Arreaza

lines on the record: 74
first: 2019-01-26
most recent: 2019-02-26
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Mr. Arreaza (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) (spoke in Spanish): I apologize once again, but the only thing we would ask the delegation of the United States is that it honour its obligations, as clearly laid out in the Charter of the United Nations. We do not need a resolution or a statement. I simply wish to hear him say that the United States, like any other Member of the Organization, rejects the use of force against the people of the Bolivarian Republic ofVenezuela, The meeting rose at 8pm.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“How could there not be emigration in a country that has been subject over the past four years to an economic blockade that is designed to make the people suffer? The United States has admitted that its intention is to strangle the Venezuelan people in order to spark regime change. The Peruvian Government recently decided not to recognize our diplomatic personnel, who are entrusted with protecting the community of Venezuelans in Peru. That decision seems to be contradictory, but I would ask for a demonstration of good faith so that our Foreign Ministry can work with Peru, Chile and Ecuador to gather the information we need, including names and locations, so that we can fully address the needs of the Venezuelan groups that have left our country.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Mr. Arreaza (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) (spoke in Spanish): I apologize for taking the floor again. All Venezuelans are dependent on the situation and conditions in our country. Some 6 million Colombians live in Venezuela. We welcome and appreciate them. Last year, we received almost 100,000 Colombians, who came because of the conditions in their country, with which we are all familiar. We have Ecuadorians and Peruvians in our country. There are almost a million of them. They are welcome and we want them in our country. We have sent many diplomatic notes to the Foreign Ministries of those countries that claim to be receiving Venezuelans, asking them for precise information on the numbers, because the figure of 3 million refugees is absolutely absurd. It does not correspond to reality, although there is heavy migration.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Lastly, I thank my region, Latin America and the Caribbean, and all countries therein without exception, including those that have differences with Venezuela, for participating today and, despite the United States opposition, for having ruled out the use of force and the military threat as a solution for the institutional situation in my country. This is a victory for our region, which, through its regional body the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, has been proclaimed a zone of peace since 2014. By way of summary, we can say that we must avoid war and blockades against peoples. We have to protect peace. We believe that today's meeting, regardless of who convened it, will prove to be a great victory for peace and we must continue to work in that direction.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“I would like to bring to the attention of the Council the evident lack of will of that delegation and to remind the Council that all of us, as States Members of the United Nations, should see dialogue as an obligation and oppose the use of force, in particular the members of the Security Council and especially the permanent members of the Security Council. We therefore now have a very irregular model of behaviour 4 contrary to the principles of United Nations - within the five permanent members of the Security Council. We call for the situation to be corrected. It is important that it be corrected.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“I would like the Security Council to ensure that the United States, if it is a Member of the United Nations and if it respects the Charter of the United Nations, rules out the use of force and the threat of the use of force - or why else is it a Member of the United Nations? Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter is very clear and anybody who fails to abide by them - of course, there are other articles that the United States is violating, such as that on non-interference. But this is very dangerous - the use of force 4 and that is why we are emphasizing this point - it is the obligation of the United States. We have been informed that the Russian Federation informally proposed a very simple draft resolution calling on parties in Venezuela to sit down for a dialogue and the United States delegation rejected it.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“There is no way of doing political business in a democracy, a democratic revolution or a revolutionary democracy without sitting down at the table, especially with our political adversaries who have different positions from ours 4 that is exactly where dialogue should take place. We must work for peace. We must reject any threat of the use of force. Unfortunately, the delegation of the United States is not ruling out that option. Neither its President 4 the chain of command that we mentioned before 4 President Trump, Vice-President Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo, National Security Adviser Bolton, members of Congress, such as Senator Marco Rubio, Mr. Elliott Abrams nor others who fall within that chain of command, has ruled out war against Venezuela.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“They have affected the capacity of our country to trade its own bonds and to seek financing as a State from multilateral institutions. They have blocked billions of dollars of Venezuelan money 4 $30 billion, as I noted in my previous statement. That is the cost of the blockade, but in terms of assets that have been frozen, that figure is doubled, and if we were to make an actuarial analysis of the loss ofproduction, the loss of exports and the loss of sales resulting from the sanctions, we are talking about billions and billions of dollars. The Security Council should also call on the parties to sit down at the table together. We are sitting at the table and have always been there, as we have said.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“For that reason, we have been receiving help from friendly countries and from the United Nations through this mechanism, which we designed in cooperation with the most beautiful multilateral institutions that exists, the best creation of humanity in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, which is the United Nations Secondly, in the light of today's meeting, I would like to note that Venezuela insists that the Security Council the other organs of the United Nations should dedicate themselves to preventing a war against my people, against Venezuela. We know that they have the capacity to do so and also to lift the blockade against my country. Those sanctions have affected the key businesses at the heart of the Venezuelan economy.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“As noted by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation and other countries ofthe region, we have been receiving assistance through this mechanism from the United Nations. I also wish to emphasize that we agreed with the European Union that this mechanism, which is already in place and operational, could not only manage the delivery of assistance to Venezuela but also, for an economy that has been blockaded like ours, it could facilitate procurement 4 purchases 4 because of the problem of over-compliance, as the experts call it, of international banks with the so-called sanctions imposed by the United States blockade, so that they are afraid of dealing with Venezuelan institutions and also with the suppliers, who are imposing special terms, such as insurance against acts of war and very high prices, and very often these transactions do not even go through.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Mr. Arreaza (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) (spoke in Spanish): I thank the Security Council for taking the time to take up an issue that deserves the attention of the United Nations, namely the aggression against Venezuela. Ijust wanted to restate a few points very briefly. First, as has been repeated here from a permanent script on humanitarian assistance, the Government of President Maduro has been working with the United Nations for several years now, most recently in the face of the economic crisis provoked by the criminal blockade against the Venezuelan economy. In September last year, President Maduro was here at the United Nations and met with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, agreeing with him a mechanism to increase cooperation and receive technical humanitarian assistance through the United Nations.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Let us preserve Venezuela and the present generation from the scourge of war, for the threat is here and now. As the Ambassador of the Russian Federation has made a proposal, we would ask the Security Council - more than that, we would almost demand, and do so - to agree on and adopt a draft resolution. What do we want it to include? That it reject the threat or use of force against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; that the option be ruled out once and for all. Mr. Trump, Mr. Pence, Mr. Bolton, Mr. Pompeo, Mr. Marco Rubio, Mr. Guaido and Mr. Duque are putting that on the table. I have here a quotation where Mr. Pence is saying "all options are on the table", as well as others where”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“We must also denounce the use of Colombia's territory to launch aggression against Venezuela. This is painful for us, given that 200 years ago the liberator Simen Bolivar and Venezuelan plainsmen were crossing the Andes and sacrificing their lives to fight for the freedom of New Granada, or what is now the Republic of Colombia. And they succeeded - without looting or taking territory or anything else, before returning to Venezuelan territory. The Security Council is not here to make war or establish conditions for others to make war. The Security Council is not here to endorse violence or breaches of the Charter of the United Nations. Rather, the Security Council is here to maintain international peace and security and preserve future generations from the scourge of war.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Also, yesterday we agreed upon a mechanism for technical humanitarian assistance from the European Union through the United Nations to Venezuela, but that was not reported in any news outlet anywhere. As several Council members have said, however, the Contact Group wants to impose the outcome of the dialogue. It wants to impose one solution only. By the way, I found it strange to see some European Union countries disagree with High Representative Federica Mogherini, who characterized that supposed humanitarian assistance as politicized and said that the European Union would not become involved until humanitarian agencies ensured that aid adhered to the criteria of humanity, impartiality, depoliticization and independence. But they have not been able to do so, and they will not.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Mexico, Uruguay and the countries of the Caribbean Community have proposed the Montevideo Mechanism. Here we sit; tell us when we should go to Mexico, Montevideo or Bridgetown, and we will sit down at the table without any agenda and with our Constitution in hand. Hold elections? Perhaps. Are other solutions a possibility? Perhaps. That is why we have such a rich Constitution. The European Union and some Latin American countries have also come up with a mechanism they call the International Contact Group. Welcome. We met with them for four hours - I personally for two hours and then subsequently along with the Vice-President and a delegation they sent to Caracas last week. We hugged them and said thank you.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“The last chapter in the coup d'etat occurred on Saturday. Here they like to say, "read my lips". (spoke in English) Itfailed. (spoke in Spanish) Now is the time to return to our senses and respect international law and Venezuela's Constitution. We are waiting to see the members of the Venezuelan opposition - Mr. Guaido or anyone else; they will decide - sit down with the constitutional Government of Venezuela. Then, among Venezuelans, we can craft our own solution without intervention or interference from anyone, especially the United States. We can only hope that the White House will give Mr. Guaido and the Venezuelan opposition the authorization to sit down with the Government so that we can find a solution through dialogue and negotiation to each and every political circumstance that may arise in Venezuela.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“It should be humanitarian organizations, whose be all and end all is precisely such work, that meet, not military personnel. What about all the messages that were sent by Mr. Trump, Mr. Pence, Mr. Bolton, Mr. Pompeo, Mr. Marco Rubio, Mr. Duque and Mr. Guaido? That is the chain of command, in that order, for the intervention against Venezuela, the purpose of which is to incite the Venezuelan military to rise up and break their oath to the Constitution. How many have there been? I have lost count of how many tweets Mr. Bolton has sent out using gangster-like language to attack the dignity of our military, our people and our revolutionary forces. It is truly incredible. But, as I said to Mr. Elliott Abrams at our most recent meeting here in New York (see S/PV.8452), the coup d'etat failed.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“My God, is that hypocrisy. This is what was in the truck: nails and wire. When the security forces inspected the burned truck, that is what they found. What was it for? To set up barricades in the state of Tachira and set Venezuela on fire. This is the last photograph. I would like to ask the representative of the United Kingdom: What is this warship, which arrived last Saturday, doing just a few miles off one Venezuela's Caribbean islands? My goodness, what a coincidence. What is it doing there? Why did the Commander of the United States Southern Command meet with the head of the Colombian armed forces in Bogota to talk about humanitarian assistance in Venezuela? Since when do the military personnel of other countries meet to discuss humanitarian assistance?”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Here we can see the use of the Red Cross emblem, without authorization from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement or the International Committee of the Red Cross. That happened in Colombia and was denounced by the Red Cross. This is under one of the bridges, where we see homemade bombs and Molotov cocktails being - by the way, with gasoline from Venezuela that was smuggled into Colombia. This is the reality, unfortunately. Here we see security forces. And note where the Venezuelan barrier is. The truck was burned here, and they were throwing Molotov cocktails over there. But how easy it is to say that Maduro is massacring his people and burning the trucks with humanitarian aid. Some have even gone so far as to say that we are in violation of the Geneva Convention with respect to international humanitarian law.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Most of those injured - lo and behold, the media did not get the news on this - are officers, enlisted men and law enforcement personnel from Venezuela's security forces. I have the report here. This photograph shows a bus on Venezuelan territory, making this an internal matter. The "masked thugs" who burned it are not Chavistas. They are from the Venezuelan opposition who, as in 2014 and 2017, left our country in flames, including over a period of four months in 2017. There was no condemnation from any of those other countries. Here they are on the Colombian side of the bridge - we can see Colombian migration - protected by Colombian security forces. There they are.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Whether they are Colombians or Venezuelans I do not know, but I do know they were attacking Venezuelan law enforcement personnel abetted and protected by Colombian police. This photograph shows a man setting fire to humanitarian vehicle with a Molotov cocktail - an image widely disseminated by the press. Here is the burning truck, which when inspected was found to contain not only food and medicines but also tools for putting up barricades and wire and nails for making weapons of a type we in Venezuela are used to seeing being used by the radical opposition. The proof right here; members can see the videos. That truck was burned on this bridge. Here one can see Molotov cocktails being thrown to burn the humanitarian aid. But there were also some injured.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“When it comes to Venezuela, there have always been calls from the United States and Western power centres for the politics of death. A well-orchestrated operation to violate the sacred sovereignty of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela took place over the weekend. Our national armed and police forces were able to contain it without using any kind of deadly force, and that is why you saw tear gas used at the two main bridges between Venezuela and Colombia - between Venezuela's Tachira state and Colombia's North Santander department - as well as progressive and varied methods. And where did the aggression come from? It came from Colombia. As to the outlaws who are said to come from the Maduro regime? They come from Colombia.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“We denounce the United States Government for organizing, financing and leading this gross act of aggression against Venezuela, which in effect began many years ago. In some countries scandals are created by saying that some other country interfered in their electoral campaigns. Intervention by United States Governments has been taking place in Venezuela since the Bolivarian revolution came to power on 2 February 1999 - every day, every hour and every minute of the 20 years that have elapsed. We would also like to take this opportunity to denounce here - according to information provided to us by friendly countries, such as Cuba and the Russian Federation - the mobilization of troops in the Caribbean and the purchasing of weapons from Eastern Europe intended for the radical opposition in Venezuela in order to foment intervention.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“When powerful countries and other countries that are subordinate thereto - I am referring to the United States and Colombia - organize aggression against the sovereignty of a free people, such as that of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we are talking about an issue that is undoubtedly a threat to the peace and security of our region, which in turn affects international peace and security, and that is a clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations in its entirety. With all due respect, allow me to say that the briefing by Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo was biased. She sought to disseminate information coming from one source. Furthermore, again with all due respect, that information does not correspond at all to what we discussed in the three meetings we held with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“Mr. Arreaza (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) (spoke in Spanish): At the outset, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting to be frank with the delegation of the United States. This meeting once more affords us an opportunity to speak the truth about what is happening in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Confronting Western intervention, imperialism, interference in domestic affairs and colonial arrogance, which we thought had disappeared from the Security Council, has been an exercise in patience. First of all, we extend a greeting from the constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Mr. Nicolas Maduro Moros, and from the Venezuelan people, who are being subjected to international aggression. It is only fitting that we should discuss this here in the Security Council.”
2019-02-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8472 (2019) · source
“In Venezuela, the people, the workers, the trade unions, the farmers, the local councils and the businessmen are in favour of sovereignty and peace. We will not allow any Government or country to violate our sovereignty or to promote war. Nor will we give Donald Trump the pretext he seems to need to start a war.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“As I said about two hours ago, I think we also need to acknowledge that the Government of Ecuador denied us the flight authorization necessary for the return of Venezuelan immigrants who, fleeing the persecution promoted by President Lenin Moreno Garces against Venezuelans, had taken refuge in our Embassy and diplomatic missions in Ecuador. Although it was not granted yesterday, as would have been right, or this morning, the Ecuadorian Ombudsman's Office intervened. Finally, the Ecuadorian Ministry for Foreign Affairs granted authorization, and we can retrieve our compatriots. Venezuela is at peace. Attempts to provoke a war in Venezuela have not been successful. Venezuela is a country that will defend its sovereignty and will always use dialogue.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Perhaps in eight days Europe can learn to respect the Constitution of Venezuela and support an egalitarian dialogue in a framework of respect for the sovereignty of Venezuela, as it should be and as we all would like to see. There were 300 observers. I ask that we be provided with any report from the electoral observers in Venezuela stating that the elections were not honest or that the voting machines had problems. Let us have a fact-based dialogue. Let us be diligent. It seems that speakers here are following the same script. Some seem forced to read what has been dictated to them, and that is painful. The sovereignty of our brethren States on the continent is being undermined.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, former Prime Minister of Spain, to testify as to the process of dialogue in Venezuela, the electoral guarantees that were provided and why the commitment among the parties that would have guaranteed peace was not signed. Perhaps we could also learn why those who did not sign it are now at the head of a coup d'etat in Venezuela. It is a heavy responsibility to recognize Governments that have not been constitutionally elected. Harm is being done. A mistake is being made. States are entering a new stage of international law, and we invite them to reflect. We invite Europe to reflect. Europe should take the eight-day ultimatum it imposed on us to reflect.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“As I have said previously, there is indeed migration, but not of the magnitude and scale that we have been led to believe. I thank those countries who have received Venezuelan migrants and would ask them to share information with us so that we can effectively corroborate their number, where they are, how to help them and how to implement our plan of return so that they can come back to the country. However, refugee status is being given orally to millions of them. How can that be? Who says they are refugees? We must be more rigorous in our use of terminology. There is economic migration that is largely the result of the blockade and economic persecution of the United States against Venezuela. Perhaps it would be a good idea to invite Mr.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“With respect to the electoral system used, the electoral authorities that organized the election of the National Assembly in December 2015 have not changed. There are even greater guarantees because, at the request of the Dominican Republic, we created more security guarantees in the electoral system that elected President Maduro last year. The Venezuelan opposition could not agree on a single candidate. They pressured candidates not to participate, although some did. There was a legal constitutional election that led to a popular outcome that we cannot simply disregard. It is in line with our Constitution, and overturning it would mean scoffing at the wish of some 10 million voters. Venezuelan migration has been mentioned several times.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“The United States has over 800 military bases around the world. It has 70 military bases in Latin America. We do not have a single one. Our Constitution 4 to which everyone here has referred with a view to the illegal undermining of our President 4 prevents us from having foreign military bases. What we have is military cooperation. The United States cut off military cooperation with us 15 or 16 years ago, but Russia, China and others have offered us military cooperation, and it is our sovereign right to protect our territorial integrity, our people and our sovereignty. We do not seek to attack anyone or to ever put anyone at risk. We have had 25 elections in Venezuela in 20 years. The Bolivarian revolution won 23 elections, and in the two that we lost, we immediately recognized the loss.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“We gave them everything, but we have received no response. Instead, they offered refugee status to the masterminds behind the attack, who were revealed in the confessions of those who carried it out. None of what I have just mentioned has been discussed or condemned here. We also want to tell the people and authorities of Colombia that although they insult us, ignore us and refuse to communicate with us, the Bolivarian revolution of President Maduro will always be available to the people and institutions of Colombia to achieve peace in that country - the site of the last armed conflict on our continent, and one with direct links to the production and export of cocaine, among other drugs. We are ready to assist Colombia to achieve a lasting peace in all its processes of negotiation.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Individuals from Colombia and Miami took part in that failed attempt. Among them was a Peruvian journalist living in the United States who claims that he had attended meetings and that he had wanted to buy more drones to assassinate President Maduro, the entire political and military leadership and Venezuelan public authorities at an event commemorating the anniversary of the National Guard. We requested both Colombia and the United States to extradite the individuals responsible for that attempted assassination. We gave them indications of where the individuals were located: for example, the municipality of Chinacota in Colombia, and the city of Atlanta in the United States. We gave them names, including those of the immigration agents who allowed the individuals, drones and explosives to pass through.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“If the United Nations, through its Security Council and General Assembly, cannot condemn that, then I do not understand what can be condemned in this institution. Venezuela has three satellites - one for telecom- munications and two for ground observation - thanks to its cooperation with the People's Republic of China. Venezuela thanks Cuba wholeheartedly for committing its personnel to provide the Venezuelan people with health care, education and life at a time when we did not have, as we do today, an army of doctors and professionals. Thanks to the Cuban revolution and Commander Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and, today, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, we have been able to offer well-being and happiness to our people. A few months ago, on 4 August, there was an attempt to assassinate President Maduro Moros at a public event.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Mr. Arreaza (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) (spoke in Spanish): I would like to respond to some things that have been said this afternoon. First of all, we made it clear in our first statement that the reason we referred to President Trump's statement to the General Assembly in 2018 (see A/73/ PV.6) was to denounce the fact that President Trump, from the rostrum that embodies multilateralism and international law, again validated the Monroe Doctrine, which considers our Latin America to be the backyard and exclusive zone of influence of the United States. In outlining the United States new national security doctrine, he reiterated that fact, which, in that context, represents a military threat against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“However, the channel remains open so that we can conduct dialogue and treat each other in a civilized way, as indicated in the Charter of the United Nations, which we all have to respect.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Fortunately, the Federal Government of the United States has reopened, as I believe it has nothing better to do but focus its attention on Venezuela. We can be thankful that its Government has reopened as it will have more work to do. Mr. Pompeo, who did not want to stay for our statement. It is a pity that he left, as we have made clear here - and as President Maduro has also made clear - our intention to establish and maintain open communication and dialogue with the Government of President Trump. That is what we have tried to do since the first day Commander Chavez came to power, on 2 February 1999, and since President Nicolas Maduro has been in power. What we have received in response to our offers of dialogue has been blockades, persecution, sanctions, violence, aggression, insults, interventions and now this coup d'etat.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Mr. Arreaza (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) (spoke in Spanish): With regard to what Mr. Elliott Abrams said, it is sometimes difficult for some spokespersons to speak with moral authority, especially in view of their background and track records. We respect the ability he has demonstrated in negotiating many difficult cases, but he was tried and pardoned for this very type of intervention in Latin America - for the Iran-Contra incident and for collaboration with dictators such as Rios Montt. In other words, perhaps, such words would be more fitting for a spokesperson from another generation. In any case, insults are levelled at Venezuela daily, including the words "dictatorship", "regime", "torture", "murderer", "corrupt", "drug trafficker". For God's sake, why hurl such insults? These are standing insults against Venezuela.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“I ask those present to find it in the Constitution and show it to me, and then we can debate it. On behalf of President Nicolas Maduro, the public authorities, the people, the Poder Popular and the communes and communal councils, we insist that Venezuela is, as the Constitution says, irrevocably free and independent and that no Power, however powerful, can dictate to our country its destiny or the steps to follow.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“We must stop that today, here at the United Nations. I think that what I have outlined is sufficient. To the Venezuelan people, who are listening to us, we say that we have seen here that Venezuela is not alone, a fact that will continue to be demonstrated at this meeting, as it has been in other international organizations, including at the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, which Venezuela chairs. The reason Venezuela is not alone is because it upholds its Constitution and the Charter of the United Nations. We will continue following the path of our democracy. We will not allow any decision or order to be imposed on us by anyone. Under-Secretary- General DiCarlo herself said that this individual deputy proclaimed himself President. Where is self- proclamation mentioned in this Constitution?”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Pending election and inauguration of the new President, the President of the National Assembly shall take charge of the Presidency of the Republic." Did not an inauguration take place in Venezuela? Were there no elections? If there is a discrepancy at one of the branches - and there are five in Venezuela, all of them legitimate - such as at the National Assembly, then go to the other institutions. Go to the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. But how can it be that because an individual deputy proclaims himself as the interim President, Governments throughout the world begin to recognize him, Governments that are taken seriously, with legal departments in their ministries that uphold the Charter of the United Nations and are familiar with States' Constitutions? To do so is to subject the rule of law to force, and that is dangerous for humankind.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“"The President of the Republic shall become permanently unavailable to serve by reason of any of the following events: death; resignation; removal from office by decision of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice; permanent physical or mental disability certified by a medical board designated by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice with the approval of the National Assembly; abandonment of his position, duly declared by the National Assembly; and recall by popular vote." A recall referendum is held mid-term in Venezuela if the people are unhappy; it happened in 2004 with Commander Hugo Chavez, and he was retained. "When an elected President becomes permanently unavailable to serve prior to his inauguration, a new election by universal suffrage and direct ballot shall be held within 30 consecutive days.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Allow me to conclude by reading from my prepared statement and mentioning an article in our Constitution. An effort has been made, surely hatched in laboratories in Washington, DC, to give a constitutional veneer to the self-appointment of an individual whose name is just becoming known in Venezuela - even the President of Paraguay could not pronounce his last name correctly the other day. Allow me therefore to read article 233 of our Constitution.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“In one such instance of clandestine support, at the Orinoco River in Venezuela, they violated the decrees of the legitimate Government of the then-President of the nation, Simon Bolivar, and American ships with ammunition and supplies were stopped, leading to a dispute. Ultimately, the Liberator informed Irvine, the United States agent, that it made no difference to Venezuela whether it fought Spain or the whole world if the whole world offended it. We take the same position again today. Fortunately, we have great friends, who have spoken here in the Council. However, whoever offends Venezuela will find the people of Venezuela 4 along with President Nicolas Maduro, the communal councils, the Poder Popular and the armed forces - standing ready to defend our sovereignty and integrity.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“With regard to the deadline Europe is trying to give us, we recall the Liberator Simon Bolivar in the year 1818 and the first dispute he had with an official of the United States. Remember that the United States did not support our countries' struggles for freedom. It had already gained its independence on its own, winning a war against the British Empire. But when the colonies of South America confronted the Spanish Empire, the United States declared itself neutral. Is that not interesting? And then afterwards, not only did they declare that they were neutral, but they actually secretly helped the royalists, the Spaniards.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Presidents of the United States will, at times, declare war when they face domestic problems. President Trump already regrets saying that Iraq was better off with Saddam Hussein and that Libya was better off with Muammar Al-Qadhafi - whom they brutally overthrew and assassinated, with the Secretary of State at the time laughing about it. Savagery and force cannot be permitted in today's world. The United States is even withdrawing its troops from Syria; is it now going to look for a war in Latin America? Is Venezuela Mr. Trump's war trophy? We will not give Donald Trump a war in Venezuela. Peace, stability and understanding will prevail in Venezuela, in spite of the efforts of many of the countries represented here looking for a war.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“We support the fact that Mexico, Uruguay and the Caribbean Community have expressed a desire for Venezuelans to sit together, with their facilitation, to find our own way out, without being imposed upon. No one is going to set deadlines for us, or tell us ifthere will be elections or not. Any decisions will be taken by Venezuelans, with members of the opposition and the Government seated at the table. The President of the National Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, met with deputy Juan Guaido on 22 January to establish a channel for dialogue. Compromises were arrived at, with Mr. Guaido then doing exactly the opposite the other day. After all, well, he was under pressure - the tweets from Pence and Trump and all the pressure from his people. What do they want, to start a civil war in Venezuela? They will not succeed.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“Those of you who sponsored the coup d'etat of 23 January were expecting tragedy and bloodshed in the streets of Caracas, but it did not happen because measures were taken; despite the fact that groups of 12 or 13 people went out in the night in the heavily populated areas of Caracas to loot and destroy private property, wherein we prevented a recurrence of the tragedies that occurred on 11 April 2002, in 2014 and in 2017, when extremists of the Venezuelan opposition, who were funded by some countries represented here today, took to the streets in an attempt, by way of mob force, to overthrow first President Chavez and then President Maduro. We support dialogue initiatives just as we supported the earlier initiative of the Dominican Republic.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source
“The insurrectionist marches by the opposition, with dead put in place by them, facilitated the 2002 coup d'etat. Sharp-shooters were also used. Look into how many of the people who died in recent days died in genuinely peaceful demonstrations. Who killed them? The Venezuelan judiciary and Public Prosecutor's Office are investigating those incidents. The judiciary has sovereign authority and needs no intervention from any independent body. We will tell the truth about each and every one of the dead, for in Venezuela we respect each other.”
2019-01-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8452 (2019) · source