STATEMENT
BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, condemns, and denounces to the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population in the civilian and military locations of the city of Caracas, the capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, especially its Articles 1 and 2, which establish 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 by force to 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 steadfast in defending sovereignty and the inalienable right to determine 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 as all previous attempts have.

Since 1811, Venezuela has faced and defeated empires. When foreign powers bombarded our coasts in 1902, President Cipriano Castro proclaimed: “The insolent presence of foreigners has profaned the sacred soil of the Fatherland.” Today, with the spirit 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 condemn this imperialist attack. The people of Venezuela and its Bolivarian National Armed Forces, in perfect civilian-military-police fusion, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace. Simultaneously, the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace will submit the corresponding complaints to the UN Security Council, the Secretary-General of that organization, CELAC, and the Non-Aligned Movement, demanding condemnation and accountability from the U.S. Government.

President Nicolás Maduro has ordered all national defense plans to be implemented at the appropriate time and circumstances, in strict compliance with the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Organic Law on States of Exception, and the Organic Law on 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, the full functioning of republican institutions, and to immediately move to armed struggle. The entire country must mobilize to defeat this imperialist aggression.

He has also ordered the immediate deployment of the Command for the Integral Defense of the Nation and the Directional Bodies for Integral Defense in all states and municipalities of the country.


As Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez Frías stated, “in any circumstances of new difficulties, of whatever magnitude, the response of all patriots…is unity, struggle, battle, and victory.”