The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) condemns in the strongest and most unequivocal terms the US bombing of Caracas as well as the attacks on Miranda, La Guaira and Aragua. We also express our outrage that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been kidnapped and removed from Venezuela by the US government.
These attacks constitute flagrant violations of several fundamental principles of international law, in particular Articles 1 and 2 of the UN Charter. Most seriously, they amount to a grave violation of Article 2(4), which requires States “to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations”. They constitute illegal aggression, which was considered the supreme international crime at Nuremberg. And they violate the right of the people of Venezuela to self-determination, which is guaranteed by Article 1(2) of the UN Charter.
The real objective of this military assault is not to carry out a ‘law enforcement operation’. Nor is it in support of democracy and human rights. The objective is the violent seizure of Venezuela’s strategic wealth, above all its oil and underground resources. It is also the latest example of the US’ attempt to undermine Venezuelan sovereignty, independence and right to self-determination. Such acts represent a direct threat to other countries that are not aligned with US foreign policy in the region.
These are classic colonial war methods: economic strangulation, political destabilization, and open military force, all packaged under the fraudulent language of “regime change.” The ground for this crime of aggression was prepared long in advance—through political sabotage, international legitimization of reactionary figures such as ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ laureate María Corina Machado, and open threats issued by Donald Trump and his imperialist entourage.
These acts of aggression cannot be viewed in isolation. Alongside the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the growing instability deliberately manufactured across entire regions by imperialist powers, it reflects the ongoing attempts to undermine and dismantle post war international legal framework. The selective application of law, the normalization of international crimes, and the systematic impunity enjoyed by imperialist states—led by the United States and its allies—have pushed global peace and security to the edge of catastrophe.
The IADL stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of US aggression and calls upon the international community, the United Nations, in particular the UN Security Council, and all UN member states, to take all necessary steps to stop immediately the military aggression on Venezuela and hold the US and its accomplices accountable for its crimes once and for all.
The IADL also calls upon the peoples of the world to raise their voices, mobilize, and stand against imperialist war and intervention.
We reaffirm that sovereignty and self-determination stand above imperialist military force. Justice does not stand with aggressors, occupiers, or war criminals—it stands with the peoples who resist.
End the Imperialist Intervention!
Long Live the Sovereignty of Peoples!
