Venezuela Condemns Syria Bomb Attack
The Venezuelan government has condemned a bombing which killed several high level Syrian officials on Wednesday and urged a “peaceful solution” to Syria’s ongoing civil conflict.
Mérida, 20th July 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan government has condemned a bombing which killed several high level Syrian officials on Wednesday and urged a “peaceful solution” to Syria’s ongoing civil conflict.
In response to the rebel bomb attack which took the lives of Syria’s defence minister and the bother-in-law of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the Venezuelan government issued a statement “energetically condemning” the “terrorist attack perpetrated today in Damascus”.
In reference to attempts by Western powers to gain backing for possible military intervention in Syria, the statement also exhorted the international community “to avoid any armed intervention in Syria that would only contribute to deepening the conflict”.
Venezuela has been an important ally of the Assad government during the sixteen month uprising, supplying oil to Syria despite international sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation.
It is part of an informal group of countries, including Russia, China and Iran, which supports a negotiated settlement to the conflict rather than intervention aimed at Assad’s ouster, as favoured by the United States and its allies.
The Venezuelan government’s statement further underlined its “support for initiatives that seek a peaceful solution to the conflict” while opposing “all warmongering and interventionist action”.
On Thursday Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution which backed tougher sanctions on Syria and would have opened the door to possible military intervention.
The US criticised the veto action as a “highly regrettable decision,” with US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice stating that “we will intensify our work with a diverse range of partners outside the Security Council to bring pressure to bear on the Assad regime”.
In June the eight-member ALBA bloc of left wing Latin American governments, led by Venezuela and Cuba, affirmed its support of the Assad government’s moves to seek a negotiated solution to the crisis and its concern that “the same process of intervention applied by foreign powers in Libya is being repeated [in Syria]”.
The ALBA also condemned the massacre of Houla in late May in which over 100 civilians died, and called on all sides in Syria to cease the violence.
MUD, the alliance of Venezuelan conservative opposition parties, has criticised Venezuela’s stance over the conflict in Syria, saying “once again, we see our country’s name alongside the most abject dictatorships in the world”.
Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez also opposed the murder of Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi last October as Libyans supported by NATO airstrikes took the country.