Heavily armed Salvadoran police agents transfer Venezuelan migrants at the Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador. Photo: Presidency of El Salvador.
Venezuela has categorically condemned the United States government’s persecution of Venezuelans in the US, calling it an “infamous and unjust criminalization of Venezuelan migrants.” The Venezuelan government’s official statement in this regard, issued on Sunday, March 16, likens Washington’s position to “the darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horrors of Nazi concentration camps.”
The statement condemned in strong terms the persecution of Venezuelan citizens in the US, including the expropriation of their personal property, assets, businesses, vehicles, and bank accounts. It also condemned the targeting of Venezuelans in workplaces, schools, churches, hospitals, and public spaces in the United State, and considered the threat of separating children under 14 from their families as “profoundly indignifying.” The statement emphasized that never before have children been labeled in official documents as members of terrorist groups solely because of their nationality.
On Friday, March 14, the US government sent 238 Venezuelan migrants to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, accusing them of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, applying The Alien Enemy Act of 1798 as the “legal” basis.
The Venezuelan government asserted that the United States’ actions violate international human rights laws, including the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers. The statement attributed Venezuelan migration to economic hardship caused by US-imposed illegal sanctions. It condemned the characterization of migrants as “foreign enemies,”and instead called them victims of geopolitical coercion.
The document also accused Venezuelan far-right opposition figures such as María Corina Machado, Julio Borges, and Leopoldo López of complicity in lobbying for sanctions and facilitating exploitative migration networks. It asked for national unity and international solidarity—particularly from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)—to challenge what it deems a dangerous precedent for the region.
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Below is the full unofficial translation of the statement:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically and strongly condemns the proclamation of the United States government, which infamously and unjustly criminalizes Venezuelan migrants, in an act that evokes the darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps.
The Alien Enemy Act of 1798, on which this presidential order is based, is an anachronistic law that violates not only fundamental US statutes but also international human rights frameworks, including the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers. Its application constitutes a crime against humanity.
Venezuelan migrants, who sought economic refuge due to the hardships inflicted by Western sanctions, are predominantly hardworking, dignified individuals, not terrorists or “foreign enemies.” They are victims of a criminal blockade designed to force regime change in Venezuela.
We condemn the persecution of our citizens, the seizure of their property, and the threat to separate children from families. Never before has an official document labeled children as terrorist affiliates solely due to their nationality.
Extremist opposition figures, who lobbied for these sanctions, bear responsibility for exploiting migrants through human trafficking networks. Evidence of their crimes lies with US security agencies, awaiting impartial investigation.
This proclamation, celebrated by unpatriotic collaborators, perpetuates the systematic aggression against Venezuela that began with Barack Obama’s 2015 Executive Order. We urge for national unity and global solidarity to combat this violation of human rights.
Venezuela will exhaust all diplomatic and legal avenues to defend its migrants. We urge CELAC and the international community to denounce this abhorrent precedent, which threatens our entire region. Only unity can counter this segregation, persecution, and dispossession.
All of Venezuela demand respect for their migrants and their families!
(Últimas Noticias) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
