The Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, ratified before the 120 members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) the vocation of peace that the nation follows, his willingness to defend its sovereignty and honored the people’s capacity to resist against the imposition of coercive and unilateral measures, as well as threats of military intervention by the government of the United States (USA). He did so during the installation ceremony of the XVIII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the NAM, in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he transferred the pro tempore presidency of the movement to his counterpart in that country, Ilham Aliev, for the next three years.
“Venezuela is a peaceful country, it is a living example of resistance and unwavering faith in our future of peace. With humility we say that we have confronted the most brutal empire that has existed in humanity with our unwavering exercise of sovereignty and our irreducible position of being free and independent forever,” said the Venezuelan Head of State.
He pointed out that in the midst of this scenario of imperial aggression, the NAM and the founding principles of Bandung, “true historical and geopolitical foundations of an integrative and collaborative effort between peoples of the world”, become more important.
“Respect for diverse thinking and multilateralism practiced in instances such as the NAM is an essential shield to achieve the democratization of the planet against the unilateral current that imperialism intends to impose,” he said.
He said that Venezuela assumed the presidential office of NAM three years ago, a period that he described as difficult to be marked “by the presence of tremendous challenges represented by the imperial policies applied by some powers that claim under the optics of unilateralism to violate sovereignty and political independence of the States to the detriment of peace, Human Rights and the development of our peoples”.
On the other hand, in his words, President Maduro thanked the receptivity of Ilham Aliev and the people of this country to the Venezuelan delegation’s participation in the summit.
“It is an honor to participate on behalf of our peoples in this XVIII Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement that has brought us in this beautiful city of Baku, Azerbaijan, a country with which we are united by deep ties of friendship and to whose people we reiterate our deep gratitude for your kind hospitality to all our delegations,” he said.
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Transfer of the pro tempore presidency
At the ceremony, President Maduro transferred the pro tempore presidency of the NAM to his counterpart from Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, for the next three years. “With deep pride and conviction that this movement forms the cry of redemption and the struggles of our peoples for the future and prosperity without ties or opprobrious chains, we leave in good hands, with our brother Ilham Aliev, president of Azerbaijan, the responsibility of the presidency,” said the Venezuelan head of state.
President Maduro said that Venezuela assumed the presidential office of MNA three years ago, a period he described as difficult to be marked “by the presence of tremendous challenges represented by the imperial policies applied by some powers that claim under the optics of unilateralism to violate sovereignty and the political independence of the States to the detriment of peace, Human Rights and the development of our peoples”.
He pointed out that in the midst of this scenario, the NAM and the founding principles of Bandung become more important, “true historical and geopolitical foundations of an integrative and collaborative effort among peoples of the world”.
The NAM is based on respect for the fundamental rights of man, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, equality and non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries.
Solidarity with Bolivia
Maduro, on behalf of the NAM, reiterated the unwavering solidarity with the people of Bolivia and their head of state, Evo Morales, in the face of coup plans against their constitutional government and ignorance of their electoral triumph.
“One way to make the strength of our movement effective is to recognize the legitimacy of the victory of Evo Morales in Bolivia against the colonialist forces that try to ignore the great majority of people who expressed themselves at the polls, giving him an exemplary victory from the point in view of the Constitution last Sunday, October 20,” stressed President Maduro.
He warned that Bolivia faces the same imperial maneuvers applied to Venezuela to disregard the legitimacy of its government, through the campaign of destabilization and coup d’etat supported from abroad to ignore the sovereign will of the people.
“The same political script that they tried to apply against Venezuela in January of this year and that our people defeated in peace and with infinite firmness and patience,” said the Venezuelan head of state.
Translated by JRE/EF
