Six nations, including Argentina, ask ICC to put Venezuela’s Maduro on trial
US President Donald Trump h in tedWednesd ay ata militar y response to Venezuela, vowing to take action against the leftist-ruled country whose economy has gone into a tailspin, as Argentina and five other nations filed a letter with the International Criminal Court callingonittol aun chp roce eding saga instP re si dent Nicolás Maduro’s administration.
In total, six countries – Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru – called on the ICC to try Maduro for “crimes against humanity.”
Foreign Minister Jorge Fauri e–o neofthesix foreign mini sterstosign al et te rtotheICC – said Maduro’s regime was responsible for “arbitrary detentions, assassinations, extrajudicial executions, torture, sexual abuse, rapes, flagrant attacks against due process” – including against minors.
Another of the signatories, Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, described the letter to reporters on the margins of the UN meeting as a multilateral effort to refer the “unspeakable crimes of the Maduro regime” to the ICC for prosecution.
Meanwhile, Colombia’s new right-leaning president, Iván Duque, used the UN General Assembly to call for a tougher approach to change the “dictatorship” of Venezuela as he sought international assistance from neighbouring countries to accommodate the migrants.
TRUMP THREAT
Trump’s threat–immediately den ouncedby Venezuela asan incitement to a “military uprising” – comes as the United States already piles economic pressure on Maduro’s inner circle amid an economic crisis that has led two million Venezuelans to emigrate.
“What’s happening in Venezuela is a disgrace,” Trump told re porter sin NewYorkwh ere he is attending the annual UN Ge- neral Assembly. “I just want to see Venezuela straightened out. I want the people to be safe. We’re going to take care of Venezuela. All options are on the table, every one – strong ones and the less than strong ones – and you know what I mean by strong.”
Maduro had his say at the General Assembly later in the week. As he boarded a plane in Caracas with his wife Wednesday, he said he was leaving for New York “full of emotion, passion, truths, so that everyone knows that Venezuela is on its feet.”
Later, in his speech, he sounded a defiant tone, complaining that Washington was attacking his country through sanctions and other means and strong-arming other countries into going along in a “fierce diplomatic offensive.”
“[The US] wants to continue just giving orders to the world as though the world were its own property,” Maduro said. “Venezuela will never give in.” But at the same time, he said he was willing to talk with Trump.
SUPPORT FOR CHANGE?
A military option mulled by Trump could entail supporting a coup to oust Maduro rather than a full-fledged invasion by US forces.
The president’s comments follow a report earlier this month in The New York Times that officials from Trump’s administration met three times with Venezuelan military officers to discuss plans to oust Maduro.
Earlier in the week, Trump had spoken disparagingly about the security situation in Venezuela, saying that he believed Maduro could be toppled “very quickly” by the military. Maduro was apparently targeted by exploding drones during a military parade in Caracas on August 4.
Trump’s remarks drew a swift reaction from Venezuela.
“Venezuela expresses its strongest rejection of the warmongering and interventionist statements issued by the president of the United States ... aimed at promoting a military uprising in the country,” the Foreign Ministry in Caracas said in a statement.
After the US Treasury Department on Tuesday slapped sanction son his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro,t he Ven ezuelan lea derprai sed he rasa “fierce woman.”
“Don’t mess with Cilia. Don’t mess with family. Don’t be cowards!” Maduro fumed during a televised event.
Venezuela’s economy has gone into free-fall over the past several years as the price of oil, the country’s critical export, tumbled and the government printed money to try to maintain spending. The inflation rate is expected to reach one mill ion percentbyt he en doft he year.