Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro speaks at the Meeting of Jurists in Defense of International Law closing event, Caracas, November 14, 2025. Photo: Radio Miraflores.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called on the people of the United States to stop “the frenzied hand of whoever orders the bombing, killing, and waging of war in South America and the Caribbean.”
He emphasized that the people of the United States must play a leading role in stopping what could be a tragedy for the entire region. “It was the people of the United States who took to the streets, alongside the peoples of Europe, to end the Vietnam War, the massacre in Vietnam,” he said on Friday, November 14, at the closing event of the Meeting of Jurists in Defense of International Law, held in Caracas as part of the activities of the National Council for Sovereignty and Peace.
He also urged the youth of the United States to do everything to derail conflicts in South America and the Caribbean. “This is about raising awareness among the US youth—it is a generation that is rising up based on values,” he said. “The vast majority of the US people do not want war in the world, and even less do they want a war in America.”
President Maduro pointed out that the violations of human rights and international law committed by the US government are not only against Venezuela but against the whole of South America and the Caribbean. “Therefore, we cannot allow a new Nazi-fascist current to be imposed on our continent today. We must knock on doors to raise the people’s awareness,” he emphasized.
He added that the coups against former Venezuelan Presidents IsaĂas Medina Angarita and RĂłmulo Gallegos were orchestrated by the United States, because it considered Venezuela its oil colony.
He further added that the United Nations Charter and the bodies that emerged from it have been battered, neutralized, and are currently nonexistent. “We are at a moment when the people themselves must fight for their freedom and dignity above all else,” he emphasized.
He declared that peace and international law will prevail in Latin America, and that “our peoples will fight to ensure that they prevail… If all the conscious peoples of this America rise up against imperialism and its attempt to start a war, who can stand against us? No one.”
The president emphasized that the Revolution of the South is based on the promise of unity and sovereignty in the region, with an anticolonialist and anti-imperialist vision.
He reiterated that Venezuela has been fighting colonialism and imperialism for over 200 years.
He underscored that this struggle is based on international law, grounding the rights of the peoples of South America and the Caribbean, as well as their self-determination. This conviction implies that each country is entirely free to define its own political, social, and economic model.
In this regard, President Maduro referred to some of the wars around the world generated by the US to impose its economic interests upon free peoples.
Furthermore, he praised the march held by Venezuelan youth in Caracas in defense of the homeland and peace.
Venezuela cannot become the Gaza of South America
During his speech, President Maduro condemned the genocide in the Gaza Strip committed by the US and the Zionist entity, emphasizing that the same cannot be allowed to happen in Venezuela.
“I also say to the people of the United States: humanity has already suffered enough pain from the genocide in Gaza. There is no longer anyone in the world who does not call what is happening in Gaza a genocide,” he said.
He added that polls conducted in the United States show that, for the first time, “the majority of the population, and especially young Americans, describe what is happening in Gaza as genocide. A ceasefire agreement was signed, but it has been violated by the Zionist entity every day. More than 600 Palestinians, including children and women, have been killed by bombs dropped by the Zionist entity” since the declaration of the ceasefire.
“Do we want another Gaza, now in South America?” he asked. “I know that the answer is a no. Here, peace and international law will prevail.”
Declaration of the Meeting of Jurists in Defense of International Law
During the closing session, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge RodrĂguez, said that the event was not convened merely “to think, reflect, and study, but to condemn the grave crimes” committed by the US in the Caribbean.
RodrĂguez read out the final declaration of the two-day meeting:
- Categorically condemn all forms of interference, coercion, unilateral coercive measures, or aggression that violate the sovereignty and self-determination of the peoples.
- Demand strict observance of international law, bilateral and multilateral treaties, and the United Nations Charter as the sole means for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
- Call upon the community of jurists in all countries to monitor and report to the appropriate bodies any violations of international law that endanger the stability of the Caribbean region and the world.
- Express due concern and condemnation of the recent extrajudicial executions, carried out illegally and unilaterally in the Caribbean Sea by the Armed Forces of the United States of America, which constitute violations of human rights and international law in every sense and in all respects.
- Urge the United States government to cease its military operations in the Caribbean Sea and its threats against Latin America.
- Establish a broad league of jurists in defense of international law to evaluate the necessary means to formally file a complaint before competent international bodies regarding the threat posed by the United States in the Caribbean.
- Urgently reactivate regional multilateralism and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in response to the grave threats posed by the United States in the Caribbean to fulfill the January 2014 proclamation declaring the region a “zone of peace.”
- Urge governments around the world to adopt a clear position condemning the violation of international law and the escalation of violence against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the region.
- Organize awareness-raising activities and public debates on the grave threats looming over the Caribbean region.
- Reaffirm before the world that lasting peace can only be built on the foundations of social justice, equity, and full respect for human rights and international law.
(Últimas Noticias) by Carlos Eduardo Sánchez, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF
