UNASUR and CELAC Slam Renewal of US Sanctions Decree against Venezuela
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) pledged their firm support for Venezuela Friday in response to the Obama administration’s renewal of an executive order branding Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and authorizing the application of future sanctions.
Caracas, March 7, 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) pledged their firm support for Venezuela Friday in response to the Obama administration’s renewal of an executive order branding Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and authorizing the application of future sanctions.
“The renewal of U.S. unilateral measures against Venezuela is a disappointment for the 12 UNASUR member states because it violates the principle of non-intervention, as agreed upon at the Ministerial Meeting held on March 9, 2015,” stated the South American regional bloc via its official Twitter account.
The CELAC– which represents all states in the hemisphere with the exception of the US and Canada– likewise expressed its backing for the South American nation, according to Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, for her part, also repudiated the move by the Obama administration, which she characterized as a “flagrant violation of the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter” and promised to conduct a “complete review” of relations between the two countries.
The decree additionally came under fire from Cuban Vice-President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who pledged his country’s “unconditional support” to Venezuela.
“This new unjustified action against a peaceful and solidary sister nation of Our America ignores the indignation and rejection which this unwonted decree provoked at the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama,” he stated, referring to near unanimous Latin American opposition to the executive order at the OAS summit last April.
The Cuban leader’s remarks come just two weeks prior to President Obama’s historic visit the island scheduled for March 21.
Executive Order 13692 was signed by President Obama on March 9, 2015 in a move that ignited a global backlash with dozens of countries and various multilateral blocs– including the CELAC, UNASUR, ALBA, the Non-Aligned Movement, the G77+China, among others– demanding the decree’s repeal.
