Statement from Venezuela
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression carried out by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population in civilian and military locations in the city of Caracas, the capital of the Republic, and in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.
This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, especially Articles 1 and 2 thereof, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of States, and the prohibition of the use of force. Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and places the lives of millions of people at grave risk.
The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to forcibly break the Nation’s political independence. They will not succeed. After more than two hundred years of independence, the people and their legitimate Government remain firm in defense of sovereignty and the inalienable right to decide their own destiny. The attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a “regime change,” in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail like all previous attempts.
Since 1811, Venezuela has confronted and defeated empires. When, in 1902, foreign powers bombarded our coasts, President Cipriano Castro proclaimed: “The insolent foot of the foreigner has profaned the sacred soil of the Fatherland.” Today, with the moral strength of Bolívar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise once again to defend their independence against imperial aggression.
People to the streets
The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack. The people of Venezuela and their Bolivarian National Armed Force, in perfect popular–military–police fusion, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace.
Simultaneously, the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace will submit the corresponding complaints before the UN Security Council, the Secretary-General of that organization, CELAC, and the Non-Aligned Movement, demanding the condemnation of and accountability by the U.S. Government.
President Nicolás Maduro has ordered all national defense plans to be made ready for implementation at the appropriate time and under the appropriate circumstances, in strict adherence to the provisions of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Organic Law on States of Exception, and the Organic Law of National Security.
In this regard, President Nicolás Maduro has signed and ordered the implementation of the Decree declaring a State of External Commotion throughout the national territory, to protect the rights of the population, ensure the full functioning of republican institutions, and immediately move to armed struggle.
The entire country must be activated to defeat this imperialist aggression.
Likewise, he has ordered the immediate deployment of the Command for the Integral Defense of the Nation and of the Direction Bodies for Integral Defense in all states and municipalities of the country.
In strict accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, Venezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate self-defense to protect its people, its territory, and its independence. We call on the peoples and governments of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the world to mobilize in active solidarity in the face of this imperial aggression.
As the Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez Frías stated: “In the face of any circumstance of new difficulties, whatever their magnitude, the response of all patriots… is unity, struggle, battle, and victory.”
Caracas, January 3, 2025
