The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, strongly condemns the United States’ attack on Venezuela which is a violation of the UN Charter and, therefore, illegal.
The apparent attempt by the United States to take control of the government of Venezuela by coercion following the abduction of President Maduro by US forces is also illegal and a threat to international peace and stability.
The US attack follows other acts of military aggression by itself and other nuclear-armed states against non-nuclear states, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s indiscriminate offensive on Gaza, and US and Israeli attacks on Iran. It demonstrates that the claims by advocates of nuclear deterrence that nuclear weapons ensure stability are false. In reality nuclear weapons do the exact opposite by encouraging aggression and conflict that cause instability.
ICAN expresses its solidarity with the people of Venezuela at this uncertain and frightening time and calls on the US to respect international law in its relations with all countries.
As the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has said “The US has justified its intervention on the grounds of the Venezuelan government’s longstanding and appalling human rights record, but accountability for human rights violations cannot be achieved by unilateral military intervention in violation of international law.”