In the context of the United Nations Security Council meeting held at Venezuela’s request, we interview Dan Kovalik, Expert in International Human Rights at Pittsburgh University Law School to provide his insight into the interventionist agenda of the United States towards Venezuela. teleSUR
00:00And to go further into this topic and understand the situation in the region, also this emergency session at the U.N. Security Council, we receive now Dan Kowalik, who is an expert in international human rights from the Pittsburgh University Law School.
00:17Hello, Dan. Thank you so much for joining us here in From the South.
00:21Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure.
00:24It's our pleasure, of course. And Dan, we wanted to begin by asking you, have you followed the emergency session that just took place at the U.N. Security Council?
00:33It was requested by Venezuela in order to address and to call in the international community to have a look at what is happening in the Caribbean region.
00:43How were those interventions? Did they go as expected? Any highlights to point out?
00:48I think they went as expected. I think you mentioned the Russian delegation was the most vocal against the aggression by the United States against Venezuela, which is clearly a violation of international law.
01:04The United States has destroyed, I believe, up to date, at least four boats, which, by the way, they're boats. They're small boats that could never even reach the United States.
01:19And I think we know in at least one case a family was killed on those boats, on a boat.
01:25So, look, the problem, of course, the Security Council is the U.S. can veto any resolution.
01:34But there were some good statements made, especially by Russia.
01:39Now, Dan, we've seen and we have been following also the internal turmoil in the United States regarding this escalation in the Caribbean Sea as well,
01:50with representatives, both Democrat but also Republican, just pointing out that these are illegal extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean Sea
02:00that are also bypassing the Congress as military actions.
02:04What is your perspective on this internal front?
02:07We will be seeing more of this in the coming weeks.
02:11Or are we looking at a scenario in which the presidential government of the United States can just carry out these actions without consequences?
02:20Well, I mean, the plus side is there was a very close vote that maybe could have prevented Trump from continuing this.
02:30But in the end, Trump won because of my senator, John Fetterman, who's a Democrat but acts like a Republican.
02:41And he voted in favor of continuing the operations against Venezuela.
02:46So, sadly, I think he will continue with impunity.
02:53I think he wants to engage in regime change.
02:56And that is what these attacks are about.
03:00Now, let's, many experts just agree on this.
03:04It's an unprecedented situation for the Caribbean and the Latin American region, at least for decades, maybe centuries.
03:12We haven't had this military escalation.
03:15We have had military interventions.
03:18But in the 21st century, at least, it has been just a one-of-a-kind presence with the nuclear submarines.
03:26And now, every day, we have more statements of just troops or different aircraft moving into the region.
03:33Just from an international perspective, why do this?
03:38Why at this moment?
03:39How are you looking at the situation?
03:42Yeah.
03:42So, first of all, by my own perception, this is the first of its kind since the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989,
03:53which we should not forget, in which hundreds, if not thousands, of working-class people were murdered by the Bush senior administration in 1989.
04:05But since then, certainly there have been many covert actions in Latin America by the U.S., but not this type of overt aggression.
04:15These bombings of these boats are, you know, to put it very bluntly, murder and illegal.
04:26And as President Maduro said, they are acts of war.
04:30And clearly, Trump is trying to provoke a war with Venezuela, not to fight drugs, right?
04:36Let's be clear.
04:37However, even according to the U.S. DEA, most of the drugs coming into the U.S. are coming from the Pacific Ocean.
04:47Venezuela does not have a Pacific coast, right?
04:50This is about oil.
04:53The U.S. covets Venezuela's oil, the most plentiful oil reserves that we know in the world.
05:00That's what this is about.
05:02Now, Dan, from a human rights perspective, you were just saying this, bluntly put, these are murders.
05:12This has not been just pointed out by international organizations, but also different regional leaders.
05:18For example, President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, was very clear on calling these murders as well.
05:25The last vessel targeted is supposed to have been a Colombian vessel in particular.
05:30So the news tend to put the eyes strictly on Venezuela, but we are looking at a regional escalation, maybe.
05:39What can be done in terms of international law if we are looking at things that have been just extrajudicial killings in this context?
05:50Is there any action that can be taken besides the U.N. Security Council meeting that we have seen today?
05:56Yeah, well, there could be some actions at the International Criminal Court.
06:01Venezuela is a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which means that if the U.S. violated the rules of law, which it clearly did,
06:16Venezuela may have been, Venezuela may have a case before the ICC, which I certainly would support.
06:22I think Colombia is also a party to it.
06:25So that's one avenue.
06:28There could be a U.N. General Assembly action called Uniting for Peace, which is an end around the Security Council,
06:37the end around the U.S. veto in which they could call for actions to prevent this.
06:44And again, I think all those things are very much warranted here.
06:48Now, Dad, before we end and we wrap up this interview right now, of course, Venezuela has been one of the most targeted just from the direct strikes on the vessels in international waters near its coast,
07:03but also in the discourse that you were just pointing out how the U.S. authorities have been mentioning and targeting Venezuelan authorities.
07:14But if we look at a bigger picture, the U.S. in the past month, really from the beginning of the second term of Donald Trump,
07:23has been targeting different governments of the Latin American region in general and just moving on with different forms of interference.
07:33And we could be looking at just denegotiations and pressure tactics with Mexico and then with Brazil.
07:40You mentioned Panama and the Panama invasion, of course.
07:43And this term just started, it now seems so long ago, but it started with this claims of taking back the Panama Canal.
07:52Are we looking into a regional move of a new form of interference or is it just like an isolated case?
08:02No, I think we are looking at, you know, I wouldn't say new, but I would say it's certainly a flexing of the Monroe Doctrine.
08:13In which the U.S. claims to have the right to intervention in the Western Hemisphere.
08:20I think the U.S. in particular is interested in regime change in Nicaragua, in Venezuela, in Cuba.
08:28And I believe the entire hemisphere should be united against that.
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