Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil announced that President Nicolás Maduro has ordered the activation of all national defence plans across all Venezuelan territory in response to what he described as ‘a blatant US aggression’ targeting the country’s sovereignty and strategic resources.”
In a series of statements, Venezuela’s foreign minister described the attacks as “a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter” that threatens international peace and stability.
He said what was taking place amounted to “an aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” and would be met by the immediate activation of all defense plans.
He further described the attack as “imperialist aggression” by the United States and said Venezuela “strongly rejects the dangerous military aggression launched by the US government.”
In an official statement issued by the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Caracas said it “rejects, repudiates, and denounces before 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 Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.
The statement said the attack constituted a “flagrant violation” of the UN Charter and threatened peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It accused Washington of seeking to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly oil and minerals, and of attempting to impose a colonial war aimed at forcing regime change.
The government said the Venezuelan people and government would defend sovereignty and independence, invoking historical resistance to foreign intervention and calling on the population to mobilize.
The statement said the government had ordered the activation of national defense plans in accordance with the constitution and relevant laws.
It announced the signing and implementation of a decree declaring a State of External Commotion across the entire country, the deployment of comprehensive national defense command bodies in all states and municipalities, and the mobilization of social and political forces to confront what it described as aggression.
The government said it would raise formal complaints before the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the Non-Aligned Movement, while reserving its right to legitimate self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
